Keys of Light and Dark
by cm2
Summary: Syaoran’s being fooled by a fake Sakura. Only two people who can tell him he’s with the wrong Sakura, but one’s trapped in her own illusion and the other has disappeared. How did this happen? Read and find out. R/T S/S E/T
1. Part 1: A new kind of magic

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
before i start, I really, really, really want to thank Joanni who was a good listener and encouraged me with this story....thank you thank you thank you!!!   
  
  
  


**A different kind of magic**

  
  
  
  
  
In the beginning, there was only life and death. Then humans came and then they left, but what they left behind was of such an awesome power that those who were called to it ceased to be. They all ceased to be. The prophesies had spoken of the time when two of entities would come to be. The other was just as powerful as the first, but the first commanded more people.  
  
  
  
The two clashed many times, each trying to dominate the other, but each time - stalemate. Hundreds of thousands of creatures paid for the battles with their lives. Each was saddened by the loss of life; never again would they battle directly. But no animal, no creature was strong enough for their destiny.  
  
  
  
Then there was one.  
  
  
  
The one who dared to sacrifice herself. The one who dared to accept the burden she was destined to bear. The one who dared to hope.  
  
  
  
Welcome to my story - the story of that one.  
  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
_

When reality is shattered  
What can you do?  
When truths become lies  
Can you still hang on?  
When you are desparately searching  
the answers evade you  
  
  
But your world is gone  
Reality is an illusion  
Life is a journey  
Searching for the keys  
  
  
Love's passion gave Pygmalion a purpose and it's exacting hold was the end of Narcissus  
Hate's gift is grey  
The questionable attribute: Justice  
Knowledge, the gift of Solomon, the curse of the Pharoahs  
Lust for Power cursed commoners through the ages and gave birth to nations  
Hope, the ever shining light, the beacon that has let you down  
  
  
So when your life is reduced to a quest  
What can you do?  
Can you still hang on?  
The answers evade you  
Never forget  
  
  
Hope  


_  
  
  
  
Rika looked at her paper. She must have because her previously blank paper was now filled. She read over her work. _A quest? What the heck?_ She could not remember writing this at all. The prose she had written scared her. She was in the middle of writing in her diary, she was wondering what she could write about for today and the next thing she knew, her paper was full! _The world disappearing? Hope? Is something trying to send me a message?_  
  
Rika immediately banished that thought from her head. Things like that were fake, yet...  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was time! Finally, they were going to graduate. Syaoran had come back to Japan at the beginning of High school and he and Sakura had been going out ever since. Eriol and Kaho had broken up. Both had come back to Japan as well. Eriol started dating Tomoyo two years ago. In a week, they would all be going their separate ways.  
  
Sakura sniffled. It was sad that she would no longer see her friends everyday, except for Syaoran. She was moving to Hong Kong near the end of the summer to start college there and get married. Tomoyo was throwing a graduation party. She had wanted to have it at her house, but Sakura insisted on her own house.  
  
Everyone had agreed to come, Chiharu and Takashi, Naoko, Rika, Tomoyo, Eriol, Syaoran. It was going to be fun. Sakura looked at the clock. Oh, no, she was going to be late again! Five minutes to six and she wasn't even sure of what she was going to wear! Syaoran was used to Sakura's tardiness, but she still hated being late for their dates. The doorbell rang.  
  
She sighed. Being the only one in the house, she had to go answer it. It was Syaoran. "Oh, sorry, sorry, I haven't changed yet! I had so much trouble picking out an outfit and I was thinking about graduation next week, and the party, and-"  
  
Syaoran laughed. His darling Sakura's desire to please him was like a puppy's. "Don't worry, Sakura, it's just dinner. And we aren't going anywhere, we're just staying here." He walked in, closing the door behind him. "Besides, you look just fine the way you are."  
  
"Thanks Syaoran. Shoot! I haven't started dinner yet. Make yourself at home." Sakura rushed into the kitchen.  
  
Syaoran followed Sakura into the kitchen. "I can cook too, you know. Let me help."  
  
"Yes, I know, but I wanted this to be special. A week until graduation, a few months until we get married. Our chances to be alone like this are going to be few and far between," she said walking to him and pecking his cheek.  
  
"Well, I'm helping anyways." Syaoran opened the refrigerator and got out some vegetables. They were throwing all the ingredients into a big stew pot when they sensed it. Sakura was so startled that she dropped the lid she was holding and Syaoran temporarily lost his balance. They looked at each other in a mixture of feal and awe. "Did you feel that Sakura?" he asked.  
  
Sakura nodded. "I didn't think there'd be anymore magic after all the cards were transformed."  
  
"It wasn't Eriol's magic. He must have felt it too," he said, picking up the lid.  
  
"Do you think we should call him Syaoran?"  
  
Syaoran smiled. "Let's enjoy ourselves tonight. I think what ever that was can wait until tomorrow. The magic wasn't very strong."  
  
Sakura thought it over. "You're right. Let's wait until tomorrow."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Eriol was in his mansion. He thought about calling Tomoyo, but decided against it; he might accidentally invite her over and accidentally do certain things with her. He felt/saw something with his mind. It was very quick and very weak. It wasn't Sakura or Syaoran. "Nakuru, Spinel, come here!" he called to his gaurdians harshly. "The two of you weren't trying any magic were you?" he asked breathlessly.  
  
"No, why?" asked Nakuru innocently.  
  
Eriol shook his head. "Why are you holding on to Suppi like that?"  
  
"Like what?" Nakuru sounded too innocent this time. Suppi made noises that sounded suspiciously like "Save me, help me!"  
  
"Let him go." Eriol said firmly.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Let him go Ruby Moon." Eriol only used her real name when he was ordering her to do something, so Nakuru let Suppi go.  
  
"You always ruin my fun, master," she pouted.  
  
"Torturing me is not called fun, Ruby Moon!" Suppi said in an injured voice while hiding behind Eriol. Nakuru stuck out her tongue at him.  
  
"All right, you two. Take your bickering else where," Eriol said, leaving. The aura he sensed was so faint that he wasn't sure if Sakura or Syaoran would feel it. He would ask them tomorrow morning.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Rika was over at Yoshiyuki Tereda's apartment. They were in the middle of having dinner. "Yoshi," Rika started, "Sakura is having a party to celebrate graduation next week. Come with me," she asked. For the last few months, Rika had talked to Yoshiyuki about telling her friends about their relationship. Tereda was always supportive of whatever Rika decided, but Rika could never make up her mind on this particular subject.  
  
"Rika, if I give you an answer now, you'll probably change your mind. Ask me again next week." He smiled and Rika smiled back.  
  
Suddenly, Rika got very dizzy. She gripped the table so she wouldn't fall out of her chair. "Rika, Rika?" Tereda asked urgently, "What's wrong?" Rika didn't answer for a while. Lately, she had been experiencing dizzy spells frequently, but never before had it been this bad. Yoshiyuki was scared that maybe Rika had cancer or something, but when she went to see the doctor, he apparently had insisted that everything was perfectly fine with her.  
  
"Nothing, I just got a little dizzy is all," she said, trying to make Yoshiyuki stop worrying.  
  
"Dizzy? Rika, you've been getting a lot lately. Are you _sure_ you don't have some kind of ear infection? Did you ask the doctor about anemia?"  
  
Rika had gone to see the doctor last week and he had given her a clean bill of health. She nodded at Yoshi. "I have the whole medical field stumped." Tereda smiled weakly; she was trying alleviate his worry.  
  
"Well, I'm driving you home tonight. I'm not going to let you walk around by yourself with those dizzy spells all the time."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Eriol called Sakura early the next morning. "Hello?" Sakura said groggily.  
  
"Sakura!" Eriol was wide awake.  
  
Sakura looked at her clock. 8:40. She had another 20 minutes to sleep. "Eriol. It's a crime to be up before nine on Sundays. Call me back in half an hour." Sakura hung up and stumbled back to bed.  
  
"Sakura! Sakura?" Eriol sighed. He dialed Syaoran's number "Syaoran. Don't hang up and tell me to call back in half an hour."  
  
"Eriol? I was gonna call you today, but this early?" Syaoran was an early bird, like Eriol.  
  
"Well, it's really not that early. I called that cute little fiancee of yours and she told me it was a crime to be up this early then she hung up."  
  
Syaoran's jealously got the better of him. "_Cute little fiancee?_ Why don't you just keep your eyes on Tomoyo, huh?"  
  
Eriol chuckled. "It's so fun to mess with your mind though!"  
  
"I don't think it's funny," Syaoran muttered.  
  
Eriol became serious. "Did you feel a strange aura last night?"  
  
"Yeah. That's what I was going to call you about. Sakura and I both were startled by it."  
  
"It was really faint right?"  
  
"Un-huh," Syaoran agreed, "I couldn't tell what the color was. Neither could Sakura."  
  
"Yes, well, since neither of the three of us could tell...we should be on the look out for anything strange."  
  
"Of course. You didn't think we'd just ignore it did you?" Syaoran asked.  
  
"No, no I didn't. Well, I should be going. Should I call Sakura?"  
  
"Naw, I'll call her."  
  
After hanging up, Syaoran looked at the time. Only 8:50. He should wait at least another 15 minutes. He could just walk to Sakura's house. She only lived ten minutes away. He passed five minutes debating with himself and then another five getting ready to leave. It was ten after when he got to her house.  
  
Touya answered the door. "Ah, what do you want?" he said glaring at Syaoran.  
  
"Well, I would like to get in your house," Syaoran started. Then he remembered something. Kero and Yue. "Did Yukito sense anything yesterday?"  
  
"No, why?" Touya answered hostily.  
  
"Nevermind. Can I come in?"  
  
"What for? Why do you want to see my sister so early in the morning?"  
  
"Because I have something to tell her that's why! Since when is there a law that say I can't see my own fiancee?"  
  
"Since right now when you decided to come early in the morning."  
  
"_That's it?_ That's your reason? I really need to tell Sakura something. It's important."   
"Did you do anything to her last night?" Touya asked suspiciously.  
  
"What?! No, I did not do anything to Sakura. Can I come in?" Syaoran was getting frusterated.  
  
"I suppose."  
  
"Touya, who is it?" asked Fujitaka. "Oh, it you Syaoran. How nice of you to drop by. I believe Sakura just got up."  
  
Sakura came down the stairs in her pajamas. "Who's here?" Seeing it was her fiancee, she enthusiastically ran up to him, tripping over her slippers and pushing the both of them onto the floor. "Sorry, honey." Sakura kissed him.  
  
"Whoa! That's way too involved!" Touya started stalking towards the couple, but his father held him back.  
  
"Don't worry about Sakura, Touya."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Leave them alone." Fujitaka left the room, dragging Touya with him.  
  
Sakura sighed. "Touya still doesn't like you very much."  
  
"That's all right. It's a habit. Eriol said to tell you we should be on the look out." Syaoran sat up.  
  
"Oh? Did he call you?"  
  
"Yeah. Right after he called you."  
  
"Oh, that's right, I just remembered. Kero said he didn't sense anything last night."  
  
"Touya says Yukito didn't either." Pause. "What do you think is going on?"  
  
Sakura shrugged. She got up and pulled Syaoran up. "Do you want to stay for breakfast?"  
  
"I don't think you're brother would appreciate it," Syaoran hesitated. "And I ate already."  
  
"Do you want to stay anyways?"  
  
"Touya would probably kill me."  
  
"Over my dead body!" Sakura said possisively. She dragged him into the kitchen. "Dad! Can Syaoran stay for breakfast?"  
  
"Sakura!" Syaoran whispered, turning red.  
  
Fujitaka laughed. "Of course." Touya glared at Syaoran and Syaoran glared right back. "Touya...be nice. Syaoran is going to be family!"  
  
"Yeah, well, doesn't mean I have to like him."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The week past all too soon and Before they knew it, it was Satuerday again. The graduation ceremony was that afternoon and they were finally highschool graduates. The doorbell rang. "HI SAKURA!" Tomoyo said. Eriol and Syaoran were right behind her.   
  
"The three of you are the first people here. Come in, come in!" said Sakura. She kissed Syaoran's cheek.  
  
"Where's the rest of your family?" asked Eriol.  
  
"Ummm...Touya went to work, Dad is in his study and Kero...well, I left him in my room with a huge tray of cakes and my video games," Sakura chuckled.  
  
"I have something for Kero." Tomoyo pulled out a stack of tapes from her bag.  
  
Syaoran's eyes widened. "You still have those?"  
  
"Of course. Why would I get rid of them?" Tomoyo got all starry eyed. "Those were the good ole days. Sakura had all those chances to wear my outfits and I could video tape her!"  
  
Sakura laughed nervously "I'll just go upstairs and give those to Kero."  
  
The telephone rang. "Hello?" Sakura answered. "Rika!....yes...of course...it's not a problem...no, you aren't late...don't worry about it Rika...yes...see you soon." Sakura hung up.  
  
"What was that all about?" Asked Syaoran.  
  
"Rika's bringing a friend." Sakura rushed upstairs to drop off the tapes.  
  
"I wonder if it's going to be the guy she's been seeing." Tomoyo said. Eriol and Syaoran shrugged.  
  
Right as Sakura was coming back down stairs, the doorbell rang. "I got it," said Syaoran.  
  
It was Naoko. "Hey Syaoran. Is Rika here yet?"  
  
"No...She called and said she was bringing a friend."  
  
"I thought she'd be here before I would. Oh, well."  
  
Takashi and Chiharu drove up in Takashi's car. "Syaoran! Sakura!"  
  
Sakura waved. The two came in. Sakura stuck her head out and looked around to see if Rika was near. She wasn't so Sakura closed the door. Everyone was gathered in the living room talking and laughing. Suddenly, she felt the strange magic again. Syaoran and Eriol looked at each other and then at Sakura. The doorbell rang three times.  
  
Sakura opened the door. "Rika! Mr. Tereda! Mr. Tereda? What?" Typical of Sakura not to understand the obvious.  
  
"Sorry I rang the door bell so much. I got dizzy." Rika said apologetically.  
  
"Do you need to rest or anything? Who's the person you were going to bring?"  
  
"No, no I'm fine. Yoshiyuki Tereda is the person I brought."  
  
"Ummmm. I don't get it."  
  
Rika laughed. "Sakura, I'm going out with Mr. Tereda!"  
  
"Rika, are you sure this was a good idea?" asked Yoshiyuki  
  
"Of course it was silly, come on. I can hear the party going on." Rika pulled Tereda into Sakura's living room with Sakura trailing behind.  
  
When he walked into the living room, everyone was shocked. "Mr. Tereda. This is a surprise," Tomoyo said.  
  
"He's with me," said Rika.  
  
"Mr. Tereda is who you've been seeing?" asked Chiharu. "That's sooooooo cute!! Isn't that right Takashi?"  
  
"You know, in some cultures-"  
  
Chiharu slapped his head. "Don't even think about starting." Everyone, even Mr. Tereda laughed.  
  
Close to eleven, Touya came home with Yukito. Touya was looking annoyed. "Nakuru followed us home."  
  
Tomoyo leaned over to Eriol. "She has Suppi with her too. Look."  
  
Sure enough, Nakuru had a death grip on a "stuffed animal". Eriol walked over to her and raised an eye brow "Suppi?"  
  
Nakuru looked indignant. "He wouldn't let me leave, so I had to kidnapp him."  
  
"Put him in Sakura's room. Keroberos is there too." Eriol whispered.  
  
At midnight, everyone was getting ready to get home. Rika was almost out the door when she got dizzy again. The world swirled around her. The yellow of the room and the faces of her friends became a jumbled mess. Her eyes closed slightly as she sank to the floor. Yoshi caught her, but the he wasn't there anymore. The yellow was gone, the faces were gone, as if it had all been a fantastic illusion. Rika looked around in panic, but another wave of disorientation washed over her and she fell to the floor, unconcious.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
a/n:Woah...this is a long chapter....what do you think?????????????????????????? revew review!!!!!! i can't spelll!!!!!!!!!!!!!111 


	2. Part 1: Rika and the guardians

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
a/n: hmmm....0 reviews is really quite sad.....so review because i want to know what you think!   
  
  
  


**Rika and the Guardians**

  
  
  
When Rika woke up, Yoshiyuki wasn't with her, she wasn't in Sakura's house. The last thing she remembered was her world crashing down about her. The familiar scents and sounds were gone. Fear consumed her slight body and Rika fell to the ground again shivering uncontrollably. A little voive in the back of her mind told her that everything would be fine, if only she could calm down for a few minutes and take stock of the situation. Rika slowly stood up and looked around.  
  
Everything was so dark. In fact, if she hadn't been glowing, she wouldn't have been able to see her hand. Glowing?! Why was she glowing. Rika brought her hand to her face, touching her face make sure she was still alive. She was. So, where was everyone else. She unconciously twisted her engagement ring as she tried to think. Everything around her was black...black..except, except for...  
  
Except for a group a figures glowing in the distance. Rika started walking towards them. Two of them had staffs, one had a sword. She squinted, not believing her eyes; four of them had wings and two of the winged ones were big cats! Rika grew hesitant, yet something in her forbade her to stop walking to them.  
  
As she drew near, she could hear their voices. "S-sakura?" she whispered to herself and started running to them "Sakura!" she called out.  
  
Sakura turned around, startled. "Rika!"  
  
"Sakura, Syaoran, Eriol. Where did everyone go? Who are these people?" her eyes communicated her fear.  
  
"Rika. We don't know where everyone went. We thought..." Sakura stopped.  
  
"What did you think?"  
  
"We thought that only people with magic were left," Eriol finished her sentence.  
  
"Magic?" Rika repeated. "There's no such thing....is there?"   
  
"Magic, Rika, is very real," Sakura put her arm around Rika's shoulder and drew her into their circle. "I don't think...I can't see any in you though. Can anyone else?" Rika looked at the faces around her, shaking their heads.  
  
One of them and long silvery hair and lavender eyes. He had an icy expression on his face and his arms were folded across his chest. He was hovering in the air. He had angle wings. The other winged human was all in red. She had red eyes and red hair and red lips. Her clothes were pink and black and white. A smile played on her lips and when their eyes met, she winked at Rika. She too was hovering in the air. Her wings were butterfly wings.  
  
The two animals. One was golden and the other was black. One looked like a huge panther and the other, a huge lion. The panther had butterfly wings and a little curly-q at the end of his tail. The lion had angle wings with silver hair coming out of its tail. Rika was scared to look them in the eye.  
  
She had already known Eriol and Syaoran from school, but now they seemed almost alien. Even Sakura! Eriol had a staff with a sun on the top, Syaoran had a sword and Sakura had a staff with a star. Rika gulped "So...so what's going on now?" she asked timidly, not wanting to make eye contact with any of them.  
  
"We're trying to decide what to do," Syaoran answered her.  
  
Eriol sensed Rika's fear. "Maybe if some of us became a little less intimidating..." He nodded at Keroberos and Spinel Sun. The two of them transformed into their earthly forms. Rika watched the process in facination. Their huge wings cocconed them and strange symbols formed in a circle beneath them. In a few seconds, their wings unfolded and shrunk, revealing two little creatures that looked like stuffed animals.  
  
"I've seen you before," she said to Kero. Kero flew over to her.  
  
"Probably. I tag along with Sakura a lot. I'm Keroberos." Rika held out her hands and Kero landed in them. He turned to Syaoran and said, "if you had been this nice to me I wouldn't have bit you."  
  
Syaoran rubbed his finger. "Don't remind me you little stuffed animal."  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
Rika laughed nervously at the interchange. She looked at the little blue black one. "Who are you?" she asked.  
  
"Spinnel Sun."  
  
"Suppi," the woman in red interjected.  
  
"Who's Suppi?" He asked looking around. Then he realized who she was talking about. "RUBY MOON!"  
  
"What??"  
  
Rika looked at the woman. "Ruby Moon?"  
  
"That would be me." she said cheerfully with a wave. Rika then turned her gaze onto the last winged figure.  
  
"Yue," he said. "I'm Yue."  
  
"They are our Guardians, at least, mine and Eriol's," Sakura said.  
  
"Syaoran, you do not have guardians?" Rika asked.  
  
Syaoran shook his head. "Spinel and Ruby are with Eriol and Yue and Kero are with Sakura."  
  
"Do they had other forms too?"  
  
At that question, Ruby Moon and Yue transformed too. Rika gasped when she saw who they were. "Yukito and Nakuru!"  
  
Both of them smiled at her. "But we agreed that Yue and Ruby Moon would stay in their original forms until everything turns back to normal," Eriol said.  
  
"But isn't...aren't two winged figures kind of strange?" Rika said ask Yukito and Nakuru changed back into Ruby Moon and Yue.  
  
Syaoran laughed. "They can make their wings go away. All of them can, but we figured, two humans would scare off people less than two huge cats."  
  
"Oh." Rika grew dizzy and she held on to Sakura and Syaoran for support. At that same moment, Sakura, Syaoran, and Eriol all sensed the magic.  
  
"Mistress," said Yue, "it would seem that your friend Rika is somehow connected to this strange magic."  
  
"Yes," Sakura agreed.  
  
"I still don't get it," Suppi said. "What is this magic? Why can't _we_ feel it?"  
  
"Master, should we really trust magic that we guardians can't sense?" Ruby had a point.  
  
"Ruby, you've said that a lot, but this magic is what's caused the diappearance of our world. We must go after it," explained Eriol.  
  
"I thought we had agreed on that too," Sakura was confused.  
  
"We did." mumbled Syaoran. "Look. We can't stand here forever." He pulled out his laison board. "We should start looking for the source. Every second we argue, we...well...we could be losing our chance to get back our families."  
  
"Tomoyo..." Eriol said sadly.  
  
"Dad and Touya...."  
  
"Yoshiyuki..."  
  
"Mother, my crazy sisters, and even Meiling..."  
  
"We have to go rescue the video games and cakes!" yelled Kero.  
  
"Is that all you can think about?" Yue looked at his furry, yellow counterpart.  
  
"What are you thinking about?"  
  
"Hmmm...oh, that's a tough one, Keroberos," Yue started sarcastically. "How about the well being of our mistress and Syoaran?"  
  
"Who am I going to harass if Touya never comes back?" Ruby Moon sounded forlorn.  
  
"Yue," said Suppi.  
  
"Suppi," suggested Kero. Suppi gave Kero his death glare.  
  
Ruby Moon brightened up and glomped Yue. "Get! Off! Me! Ruby! Moon!"  
  
Syaoran crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, impatient. "This is why we never bring our gaurdians along when we get together."  
  
"Is it always like this?" asked Rika, watching the four guardians argue.  
  
"Well, yes and no. When there's danger, everyone's serious." Eriol responded with a wave of his hand. "That quite enough the four of you. Syaoran. The Laison board?"  
  
"Finally...**Sources of Light with ancient spin, Send forth the magic power within, Oracles of gold, wind, water, and electricity, Force know my plight, RELEASE THE LIGHT!**"  
  
As Syaoran chanted, Rika could feel the wind moving and swirling around him. A blue stream of light shot out from the center of the board. Rika's gaze followed the light. It seemed to go one forever. "Well, I guess we should follow the yellow brick road," Sakura said.   
  
  
  
  
a/n: hi again...review!!!!!!! please!!!!!!!!!!! 


	3. Part 1: In which connections are made

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
YES! a chapter spelling-error free!!! (i'm pretty sure it's free of sp. errors, that is...)   
  
  
  


**In which connections are made**

  
  
  
They followed the beam of light for a very long time. Rika was doubtful about trusting a light coming from a board, but since all the others did, Rika was reassured a little bit. Soon, they could see a tree. A single tree. As they drew closer, the tree's actual size became evident. The trunk of the tree was as large a house and it was taller than any tree they had ever seen before. A strange warmth exuded from the tree, a warmth that was not quite warmth.  
  
They all looked up at the tree in awe. Rika started getting dizzy again. She almost fell down except Sakura held on to her. Rika leaned against Sakura. A woman started materializing in front of them. Everyone except for Sakura, got ready to defend the group.  
  
"I'm not dangerous...I'm just a simulation," the woman said after she had fully appeared. She had brown hair, rainbow eyes that were dark near the pupil, green, then yellow, orange and red, and bronze skin. She carried herself in such a manner that they all had to trust her. She turned around and groped about the air for something. A look of intense concentration crossed her face as her hand gripped and turned something. A door showed up on the side of the tree and opened. "Please, welcome to my abode."  
  
Rika caught her breath. "Can you feel it? Coming from in there?"  
  
"Feel what?" asked Sakura.  
  
"Something....something...I don't know how to describe it."  
  
"Does it feel good or bad?"  
  
"Warm...it feels warm." Rika walked into the room. Everyone else followed closely behind, her trance-like state worried all of them. The inside of the tree was spectacular: a single heptagonical room that seemed to reach the heavens. The Spartan severity of the room was off set by the walls, each glowing a different color.  
  
The woman popped up in front of them. Rika became normal again, her light-headedness was gone; to everyone else, Rika had snapped out her trance. "I was told that this might happen one day," the woman frowned, "I was not told that almost everyone would disappear. Oh, I'm sorry," she said, as if noticing them for the first time, "I'm forgetting my manners. I am the Rowan. Are you tired? hungry?" She waved her hand and nine, rather elegant chairs appeared along with a steaming pot of tea and a tray of sandwiches.  
  
"Do help yourself while I try to explain what's happening. Before I start though, I'd like to say that I'm not sure exactly what's going on. I can only give you a general idea of what's happening, technically."  
  
As soon as everyone had settled down, Rowan began her story. "I presume most of you are human?" she asked, eyeing Kero and Suppi. "I am almost human. In fact, I'm about as human as a simulation can get. Watch," Rowan cut herself with a knife she magiced out of the air. "See? Blood, Just like you. The only thing that's different between me and a real human is that I have a switch. I'm only turned on when this happens," she waved her hand around so they weren't quite sure what she meant by "this".  
  
"A system malfunction. The magic that binds your world together is doing something funny-"  
  
Eriol interrupted. "You used a technical term: 'system malfunction'. Why?"  
  
Rowan looked confused for a minute. "Because this isn't the real earth, well, it _is_ the real earth to you all, but it's not where humans originated." Since everyone had completely clueless looks on their faces, Rowan sighed and apologized, "Sorry again. I've made a mess of things. I need to start at the _beginning_ beginning."  
  
She took a deep breath and dived into the story. "One thousand nine hundred fifty years ago, about, a few select people on earth realized that we were destroying ourselves. That much wasn't exactly rocket science, many people realized that, but the difference was power. These people were high government officials who had access to top secret scientific information..such as the existence of parallel universes. Their plan was to create another earth and put enough humans on the planet to keep the human race alive. You have to remember that government officials back then hated admitting there was anything wrong with anything. Those politicians drove me crazy," she added more as a comment to herself.  
  
"Our science was such that we had the ability to complete billtions of years of evolution in a few years. Twenty five to be exact. The next twenty five fears were devoted to research: what would be an approproate time period to start this planet?? These people settled on the year 100 AD. So, fifty years after the start of the project, they were ready to start stage two, population. This was even harder because those people would disappear for ever, at least, in the eyes of the people they left behind."  
  
"At almost the same point in history, strange things were happening to the people of earth, the earth I come from. Some were beginning to evolve mental powers. At first, these people were locked up in asylums, people were afraid that they would no longer have privacy with telepaths running around. But our society gradually began to change. An unwritten code of moral conduct began to evolve amongst the empowered ones. They learned to shut out the surface thoughts of others and it was taboo to invade deeply into the minds of those around you, purposely or accidentally. So it became that the ones with these extraordinary abilities were more polite and easy to be around since they were more conscious of those around them. More and more people had these powers and eventually, it was considered odd if you didn't have some sort of magic."  
  
At this point, Syaoran cut in. "What kind of magic?"  
  
"Telekinesis, telepathy, a few more powerful individuals could make things out of thin air. I can do all of them. Oh, and there were a few who could see the future. possibilities, mind you, but still...That, I cannot do. The future one didn't come about until later and there was always opposition. I believe in the history of your earth there's a guy named Nostradomus....," she shook her head, "I don't know how magic got to him because we made sure the people who came had very little magic, except for....nevermind."  
  
Syaoran nodded and Rowan continued. "This group of scientists-"  
  
"Can you make pudding?" asked Kero who cheered when a huge bowl of his favorite snack appeared before him.  
  
Rowan smiled indulgantly. "At any rate, this group realized the power of such a tool as magic, but they weren't sure what to do with it...yet."  
  
"They picked about 100,000 people in the racial ratios proportionate to what it would have been like in 100 AD, turned this world on, erased their memories and replaced them with new ones that would be more appropriate to the time zone."  
  
"Every few years or so, someone would drop by and influence history here and there, but on the whole, we pretty much left you alone. So, then a few hundred years later, a guy comes along with this completely revolutionary idea for the world; a way to integrate magic into the very core of its existence. If any of the technical things stopped working, there would be a back up." Rowan pointed to the wall behind her. It was glowing white except for a halo of gold in the middle. Rowan brought the golden circle down. It was a gold chain with a very small key hanging off the end. Then she called forth a little box of ornately carved wood, no bigger than the palm of her hand.  
  
It was made of the deepest ebony any one had ever seen, the black was beyond black and seemed to suck you into its nothingness. On the top of the box was a gold sun coming out from behind gray clouds; gold and dull silver inlaid in the wood and painted over. The sides of the lid had a painted design of squared S's. The body of the box was carved and painted with little figures: a green serpent, red fire, yellow star, pink flower, blue shield, and a tan scroll. The immaculate detail of the box was awe inspiring and impressive for such a small article. Rika longed to touch the sparkling container; it was calling to her. She was feeling the same way she did whenever she started feeling dizzy, but now, she wasn't feeling dizzy. There was a sense of completeness Rika had never felt before, and she savored it.  
  
"The box itself is a work of art no?" Rowan commented. "Six keys. That was what he called them, keys. Love, hope, knowledge, hate, justice, and power were what they represented. One for each wall here. He told me once that these were the best and worst of human nature, not exactly good things, and not exactly bad things. I always though this was rather confusing, and he always quoted this poem, by an author he loved:" she struch a dramatic pose,"'When the prophet, a complacent fat man, arrived at the mountain-top he cried: "Woe to my knowledge! I intended to see good white lands and bad black lands- but the scene is gray."' Not much of a poem, but, hey."  
  
"This man was also a seer, what we called those who can see into the future, and he forsaw a possibility that has apparently become reality..." She left off there.  
  
"So what happened to the original Earth?" Sakura inquired.  
  
"I don't know. I lost contact with them approximately 900 years after I was made, so that's...six hundred years ago. I would presume they finally killed themselves," she sounded rather sad.  
  
"Let me guess. We have to get the keys back right?" Suppi asked.  
  
"That would be it. And it would also be the problem. See, the box will only open with this key if the person who's opening it is the right one. Funny," she said, the look on her face grew intense. "He always referred to this person as if he or she was two different people."  
  
"What did he say?" Rika was captivated by Rowan's story.  
  
"Child of Light and Child of Dark. I always asked him why he didn't just say Child of light and dark. He's just smile and say, 'you'll understand when the time comes.' Maddening! I still don't understand either."  
  
"Geez, that sound a lot like someone we know," Nakuru commented staring pointedly at Eriol. Yue agreed, remembering that Clow Reed had the tendency to do the same thing.  
  
"What was this man's name anyhow?" asked Yue, not wanting Nakuru, Suppi, and Eriol to start arguing.  
  
"I can recite his descendants," Rowan said proudly. "But his line dies out. He settled on this earth and promised that he would not tell anyone about the truth. He had a considerable amount of magic and he actually brought a friend with him who had a lot of magic too. The two settled in different places and I never really kept track of the other guy's family; he moved around too much. But anyway, the one who made the box, his name was Darwin Schweed..." Rowan's melodic voice chanted out the names of his children and grand children for generations, until a change in beat brought Syaoran back to attention.  
  
"When did his last name change to Reed?" he demanded.  
  
"Oh, one of ole Darwin's descendants decided that Reed sounded better than Schweed," and she kept on reciting until, "here's the last one. Clow Reed."  
  
Everyone immediately straightened up. Rika caught onto the sudden tension in the atmosphere and paid attention as well. "Did you say Clow Reed?" asked Kero solemnly.  
  
"Yes," she answered as if it were the most unremarkable thing in the world. "Why are you all looking so pale?"  
  
They all glanced uneasily at each other. Finally, Eriol spoke up cautiously. "Because, Clow Reed was a very powerful magician. His line didn't exactly die out. He was reincarnated into myself and Sakura's father. He also created the Clow cards, now called the Sakura cards. Yue and Keroberos are his creations as well, made to guard the master of the cards as well as the cards. Clow never said anything about this," Eriol paused wondering if Rowan had an answer.  
  
Rowan nodded. "There would be a reason Clow never said anything. He didn't know about it," Eriol raised his eyebrows, "See, as a result of his staying on this planet, Darwin had to swear not to tell anyone what was the truth was. Anyway, back to the box," Rowan brought their attention back to the little box. "Like I said. The box will only open if the right person is trying to open it. I'm assuming one of you is that person..." She handed the box to Nakuru. Yue tried next, then Kero, Sakura, Syaoran, Suppi, and Eriol. Each time, there was a click, but the lid wouldn't open.  
  
When Eriol handed the box to Rika, she accepted with a trembling hand. Rika looked around her, every one seemed to be holding their breath. "What are they expecting?" Rika thought, "A miracle? I'm just normal, no magic, Rika Sasaki. I'm not special like them. I don't even know why I'm here!" Try as she might though, Rika was having a hard time convincing herself that she was just a useless extraneous member of the group, so she picked up the key. A chill ran down her spine. By putting the key in the lock, she would be changing her life forever in goodness knows how many ways, but she was past the point of no return now. She put the key in the lock. She turned the key.  
  


*CLICK*

  
  
The lid of the box opened slowly. Rowan gasped audibly. "Child of Light, Child of Dark."  
  
Rika uttered a short, nervous laugh. "Impossible. I'm just normal. Normal Rika Sasaki." There was no conviction in her voice and her wild, disbelieving eyes conveyed her conflicting emotions.  
  
Rowan ignored her assertion. "That means you can activate the walls," she whispered. Almost completely ignoring everyone she said, "everyone up." The room returned to normal.  
  
"What did you want me to do?" Rika asked whe Rowan looked at her questioningly.  
  
"Follow your heart. What do you think?"  
  
Rika looked at her friends and at their guardians. She wondered what they were thinking. Tentativly taking a step forward, Rika almost felt the walls vibrating with joy. Taking another stop, the walls whispered her name, "Rika, Child of Light, Child of Dark, come..." She reached out a quavering hand, her fingertips lightly brushed the wall that was glowing pink.  
  
She sharply drew in her breath. The walls. They were ALIVE! They were warm, pulsating, vibrating, alive! Something inside her grew bold and daring and she resolutly stepped forward and firmly placed her hand on the wall.  
  
A surge of power swept through her body. Her head tilted back slightly and her eyes closed. Starting from where her hand made contact with the wall, it stopped glowing. The wall itself turned into stone with colored writing. An invisible wind swpet about her as the true form of the walls was revealed. The electrifying change went slowly from wall to wall. The glowing seemed to transfer to Rika, for as the changes progressed, Rika glowed brighter and brighter.  
  
When it was over, the light in Rika condensed and flew to the key Rowan was holding. She dropped it as if it were on fire. Rika fell to the ground, blinking. She looked around at her changed surroundings in awe; if she hadn't felt so exhausted, she would never have believed that she had caused the walls to change.  
  
Something, also, was different about her. The Rika Sasaki that struggled to get up from the ground was a different than the Rika Sasaki who had first walked into the tree. She exuded a sense of fantastic self-assurdness that had never appeared before, she carried herself more regally, and when she walked to the Rowan, she seemed to be gliding on air.  
  
Rowan picked up the key. The rounded end now bore the same design as the top of the box: a sun coming out from behind clouds. Eriol was holding the box, which had snapped shut when Rika handed it to him. He gave it back to her after she had fastened the key around her neck.  
  
She thanked them and then proceded to commune with the walls. She walked around the room, touching here, brushing there, absorbing information as she went. Rika didn't glow anymore, but she still stood out. The writing on the wall looked like a smashed together combination of cryllic and chinese letters. It was hard to believe, but the walls seemed to be talking to her. The others heard a soft, warm, vibrating note whenever Rika touched a wall.  
  
When she reached the wall with the star though, she stopped completely, looking up at the wall. She placed both her hands on the wall with a frown on her face. Then she turned around, eyes flashing. "Why does this wall not reveal itself to me?"  
  
Rowan shook her head. The way Rika spoke, too, was different. She spoke of the walls as if they were alive. Walls were just walls weren't they? So what was actually going on? Rowan didn't know anything anymore, not that she knew very much to begin with.  
  
No, that was wrong. Rowan did know something else. She called up a star chart and motioned for Rika to come over. Rika glanced at the chart and imediately knew what to do. Touching different points, she called out the names of the keys and their symbols appeared: a fire for hate, a scroll for knowledge, a shield for justice, a flower for love, and a serpant for power. "No Hope?" asked Rowan.  
  
"I can't read hope," Rika replied sadly.  
  
"How...how did you...how did you make those symbols appear?" asked Kero from his pearch on her shoulder. Rika shrugged.  
  
"Very well. Let us begin," Rowan led the group outside of the tree in a strangly formal fashion. "Stand back." She muttered something under her breath and a huge swath of ground started glowing and shking. It disappeared and in its place a huge airplane-like contraption appeared. Shorter than an actual air plane, but almost four times wider. "Come"  
  
The Inside of the ship was like a huge house. Rowan gave them a tour of the general functions of each part of the ship. When she came to the command center, she pulled up a copy of the starchart Rika had worked with. "The computer knows where each of these places are. It also know the fastest, most time-efficient way to get to each place. You don't have to pilot anything."  
  
"Is that safe?" Nakuru was doubtful of the trustworthyness of mere machine.  
  
"Perfectly. The ship makes its own fuel and recycles it, so you won't need anything. Everything replenishs itself, so there won't be a need to take on supplies. And there's things like clothes, pajamas, pots, pans, washing machines, so on and so forth. There won't be anyneed to worry about not having things."  
  
"What about you?" asked Sakura. "What do you do?"  
  
"I stay here, on this planet. There's another version of me in the ship's programming. I don't think you'll need her though," Rowan looked at Rika, who looked at her shoes.  
  
"The keys. They are little round disks with a symbol on one side and.........and..... well, to tell the truth, I was never told what the other side would look like."  
  
"Then how will we know if we have the right key?" Suppi protested.  
  
"Rika will know. You must go now. We have waited too long already." Rowan faded amidst protest. They all still had so many questions. Would Rika be sufficient to answer them? No one, especially Rika, wanted to find out. Things like that always happened when one was in dire straits.  
  
So, as the door to the ship closed, and a soothing voice intoned instructions no one heard, Sakura turned around and looked at her companions. "What do we do now?"  
  
"Get settled I suppose," Yue answered.  
  
There were enough rooms that everyone could have their own, but Kero insisted on having a guardian in everyone's room, so Sakura, shared a room with Kero, Yue with Syaoran, Suppi with Eriol, and Nakuru with Rika. They couldn't feel the ship leaving their earth, but Rowan was watching them leave. She had no power to stop the ship, but there was something, she had not told them, she was so human that she was even subject to forgetfulness. Something, about someone, they needed to be looking out for.  
  
Rowan looked up at the stars. Some where out there, _he_ would know that the Child had come and he would be ready. "Lord, Gods, and minor Dieties, protect them all."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
He sat, watching the Child of Dark manifest. The only definate light in the room was from the crystal he was gazing at. A bauble of darkness floated around his head, quavering indecisivly between his left shoulder and right shoulder. He's had enough. He banished the crystal with a wave of his hand and pointed a clawed finger at the fire pit. A cold purple fire sprang to life, dancing onminously among the tinders.  
  
He surveyed the scene before him. The fire barely lit the room, but then, the darkness suited him. He had lived so long in the darkness that it was all he saw. He held out his hand, palm facing up. The bauble flew to his hand and settled. "The Child will interfere, will she not, my pet?" he hissed. The bauble quaked in agreement. He called forth his crystal once again. The humans were leaving their earth, of course, the Child was with them. He had waited for this day for many many years. He wanted to get his revenge. He stood up and moved a little ways away from his chair and raised his hands as if assailing the heavans for assistance.  
  
A ring of sickly yellow fire formed around his feet, slowly growing fiercer and brighter, yet it didn't cast light into the room. In fact, the fire was using heat as fuel. The bauble of darkness stayed close to him. For a second before he vanished, the fire illuminated his flat, triangular, reptilian face.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
a/n: I know, i know, the clow reed thing is kind of cheesy...too bad...doesn't the bad guy sound ominous?  
  
the poem (the one about the prophet) is an actualy poem written by Stephen Crane, author of the red badge of courage I hated that book, but i liked this "poem" he wrote. and the rainbow eyes, i'm not making those up...one of my teachers had the niftiest rainbow eyes...and then that one really famous picture of the Afghan girl from National Geographic (it was a cover shot for a 1985 issue and it was in another article from a few months ago and is gonna be on the cover of the april issue...they found out that she's still alive too!), she had eyes like that too. 


	4. Part 1: And so it began

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
  
  
  
  


**Memories and a little S/S moment...a Sakura-less room**

  
  
  
Rika lay in bed quietly. She only had a foggy recollection of what had happened in the tree, though the others assured her that the demonstration had been quite spectacular. She wished she wasn't so drowsy so she could focus on actually trying to remember some of it. She pulled the key out from under her shirt and ran her thumb over the design. She wondered for the thousandth time that day if she too had magic. Rika took the box from the small dresser next to her bed. "Who ever made this must have been very skilled," she thought, "unless it was created by magic," the forbidden part of her brain added.  
  
Nakuru poked her head into the room. "Rika."  
  
She looked up. "Ruby Moon."  
  
"Call me Nakuru, remember?" she reminded Rika. "Hungry?"  
  
"Famished," Rika jumped up enthusiastically.  
  
"You'd better come quick then, before Kero eats everything," Nakuru said with a wink.  
  
Rika sometimes felt a little left out. The others had known eachother for such a long time already, they seemed to know exactally what was on everyone else's mind just by looking at faces. They did make an effort to include her, but she still felt like an intruder. After all, eight years of private jokes were hard to penetrate.  
  
She also missed her Yoshi immensly. His comforting hugs, his gentle kisses, his smell. She wanted to stay on earth and let the ones with magic take care of everything, but Rowan had made it perfectly clear that she had to go on this trip. Rika absently twisted the ring on her finger, the engagement ring he had given her so long ago. She could almost feel him next to her; she always knew when he was coming up behind her, so he could never scare her. Right now, the thing she needed was Yoshiyuki.  
  
When she entered the dining room, Eriol noticed Rika twisting the ring on her finger and guessed at what she was thinking. He casually walked up to her. "Miss Mr. Tereda?"  
  
Rika glanced at him, surprised that he knew. "Yes, terribly."  
  
"I know. I wish Tomoyo were here. She always knew how to make everyone feel at ease." Rika looked at Eriol questioningly. "Rika, I know you feel kind of like an outsider, but I have a feeling that you won't feel that way for very long. This trip of ours. It will take a while won't it?"  
  
Rika nodded slowly. "Yes. And we'll all change. A lot. When we get home, I don't think we'll be the same. Ever."  
  
Eriol nodded. Rika seated herself and Eriol went to his own place.  
  
All throughout dinner, Rika's mind wandered to what had happened. She was extremely fatigued and strange bits of information, presumably from the walls of the tree, would pop into her mind, inturrupting her train of thought. She would soon learn to lock the information away in her mind until she needed it, but for now, she simply had to put up with an extremely random series of thoughts.  
  
That night, Rika collapsed into bed, sleep claiming her almost before her head even touched the pillow. Everyone else stayed up, chatting.  
  
"It was magic," Sakura insisted.  
  
"But we can't tell. It's not any magic I can sense, and Clow Reed has no memories of this kind of magic wither," Eriol said.  
  
"Well, we should assume it's osme kind of magic, that way-" Suppi was cut off by Kero.  
  
"Suppi, if we don't know its magic or if it's a magic we can't sense, how can we guard her?" Kero had guessed Suppi's thoughts.  
  
"For once, I have to agree," Syaoran reluctantly admitted. "We probably should just leave her alone for now."  
  
Nakuru nodded. "You know, she doesn't believe in magic fully yet." Silence. It was the first time in a long time there had been this kind of awkward silence between the seven of them.  
  
"Well then," Yue struggled to make conversation. "The eight of us versus the Universe."  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure the odds are stacked against us too," Suppi cynically supplied.  
  
Nakuru snatched him out of the air. "Be a little more optomistic Suppi, dear," her eyes sparkeled evily and she jammed a spoonful of Kero's pudding into Spinel Sun's mouth. Havock ensued Ruby Moon's action and Eriol was obliged to put a spell on Suppi to keep him from breaking everything in sight. Almost everyone was exhausted afterwards.  
  
Sakura watched as her friends trudged off to bed. Hours later, Syaoran sensed that Sakura was not in her room, so he tiptoed quietly around looking for her. She was in the kitchen, scrubbing fiercly at dishes and blinking rapidly. Syaoran came up behind her and slid his arms around her waist, surprising her. "Did you even go to bed at all?" Sakura just sighed. Syaoran tigtened his arms and kissed the top of her head.  
  
She turned around suddenly and sobbed into his shirt. Syaoran wasn't quite sure how to react, for he had never seen his beloved Sakura so distraught before, so he just awkwardly patted her back. When she had calmed enough to talk in complete sentences, she said "you know, I used to think we'd live happily ever after, the two of us, since the Cards and everything are safe."  
  
"Maybe after this is over...you're dream will come true....I want us to live happily ever after too."  
  
"I just-"  
  
"Just what?"  
  
"I want to be close to you right now."  
  
The two sat down on the couch. "I always want to be close to you," he whispered as she fell asleep, her head against his chest and her arms wrapped around his torso.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" was Kero's reaction when he woke up to a Sakura-less room. He frantically flew about from room to room, searching for his mistress. He found her on the couch on top of Syaoran. "Sakura! What are you doing?"  
  
"It's too early to be up dad..." she turned her face away from Kero.  
  
"Sakura!!"  
  
Eriol, who was already up, came to see what the commotion was about. She sight of his cute little descendant sleeping with Sakura on top of him triggered a train of very naughty thoughts. He surpressed a wicked grin and sauntered over to the couch, giving Sakura a little shake. "Sakura....Sakura!"  
  
Her eyes fluttered open to see a sorely confused Kero and an evily grinning Eriol. She looked down at where she was sleeping and blushed wildly. It was a good thing Touya was not around to see this or else her darling probably would not be alive right now. The sudden movement woke Syaoran up too. He sat up too quickly and Sakura fell onto the floor. "Don't say a word..." he threatened Eriol while helping Sakura up and apologizing to her.  
  
"Starting early, are we? You looked very cute together." Erilo whispered disregarding Syaoran's threat and meandered back to his own room. Syaoran glared at Eriol's retreating form. "Tomoyo would have loved seeing that...." he called mournfully over his shoulder.  
  
Sakura was about to run after him when Syaoran rested his hand on her shoulder. "We'll only make him feel more miserable," he said.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The key around her neck was vibrating and glowing fiercely. The sudden warmth on her chest woke Rika up. Grabbing the key, she wondered what was happening. She took the box from her night stand. The flower of Love was glowing. She opened the box, half expecting a key to be in one of the slots, but it was empty. Rika left the room, looking for everyone else.  
  
"Sleep well?" asked Nakuru. "You've been asleep for a long time."  
  
"I was tired."  
  
"Food?" she offered.  
  
"Yummy." As Rika was eating, the melodic voice of the computer started talking. They were approaching Love's location. Another two hours. Rika stopped eating and racked her brain for information about the place they were going.  
  
Love was put on a rather tropical planet. The ruler of the planet was a benevolent woman. She carried the key in a chain around her neck. Everything else she could think of was about the scenery. Rika couldn't wait to actually get onto the planet to see what it was like for herself.  
  
Eriol gathered everyone in the living room. "Plan. We need a plan."  
  
"Yes. I think perhaps we should turn to Rika?" Yue suggested.  
  
"Me? Why me?"  
  
"Because you know things that we can only guess at." Suppi supplied.  
  
Rika sighed. Once again, she was the one they were all depending on. Why? Why? Why? They were the ones with magic. Not her. But, then....why was she able to understand things no one else could? Why was she able to open the box? How was it that she had "sensed" all this "magic" for almost a year before the others did? So many questions, so few answers. "The planet Love is on is called Ishtar. The queen is named Inanna. She's a very good natured woman. She carries the key around her neck, ummm...the planet is very warm. That's it. That's all I can remember."  
  
Sakura smiled. "Well, if the queen is nice, then I guess we really don't have to plan anything."  
  
"I love warm climates," Nakuru said, her eyes half closed and a dreamy grin plastered on her face.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Roald sat lamely in front of a glass. The fog trapped inside it swirled hypnotically. Whenever the smoke moved, some image of the future would soon appear, usually very shortly after the swirling started. Except for today. The fog had been moving for so many hours he had lost track of the time. Since four o'clock that morning, he had been sitting in front of his future-glass, waiting for something to show up, yet nothing. He pulled at his already thinning hair in frusteration. "Show up damnit!!" He yelled at the reliquary.  
  
There was a timid knock on the door. "Come in," he growled.  
  
"The Queen commands your presence, my Lord," a servant boy said, his shaven head bowed. He was wearing simple, light, white robes from his waist to the middle of his lower leg. The only sign of his position in the Queen's service was his bare head and a golden band around his ankle.  
  
Roald sighed. His sister always managed to inturrupt him while he was working. "I'll go see her," he started walking out the door.  
  
The boy stiffled giggles. "In your pajamas?"  
  
"Oh, dear gods, no." Roald had completely forgotten that he was still wearing pajamas. "Tell her I will be there shortly. I hope there will be food." He dismissed the servant boy and put on clothes that spoke of his rank. He was brother to Queen Inanna and the court magician, even though most everybody had some sort of magic, he was the court magician. His clothes were exactally like the servant boy's except made of finer material and were more richly decorated. The edges of his robes were hemmed with gold thread and decorated with a light sea-green forest print. Two silver cuffs were around his wrist and on his left arm, was a silver arm band. He carried a staff made of a light colored wood that was carved with the images of various winged creatures.  
  
Right as he was about to leave, the glass caught his eye again. It flashed the word "Tiriki" and then showed a picture of a girl. Roald recognized the word from the prophesies. He practically ran to Inanna's recieving room.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
a/n: Ishtar is the babylonian goddess of physical love and war, Innana is the Sumerian goddess of love and war. The two are often closely associated. 


	5. Part 1: Memories and a little SS momenta...

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
  
  
  
  


**How to be a good host, a new holiday made**

  
  
  
Inanna was lounging on a pile of silk coushins, listening to her advisors. The room was like a garden, there were no walls, so a soft, continual breeze swept through the room. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head and a thin gold band circled her head. She had light colored skin and brown hair. Her freckles made her look half her age. She wore a flowing peach colored dress that went to her knees and ended right before her elbows. Her robes were bordered in gold and a bejewled colar decorated her neck. On a silver chain around her neck was a small medalion with a flower carved onto the front. When she saw her brother enter, she held her hand up, silencing the woman who was talking. "Where have you been all day Roald?" She demanded. Her voice was soft, and purposely so; who ever was listening would have to lean in to hear the words she crooned.  
  
Roald could tell his sister was about to launch into a long diatribe in her velvety voice, but cut her off with an impatient tut. "Inanna. Tiriki-"   
She sat up. "Say that again."  
  
"I didn't say very much yet, sister. I _was_ going to tell you that the Child of Light is coming. The one from the prophesies called Tiriki," he said irritatedly.  
  
Inanna's back became ramrod straight. She stood up and stretched her legs. She smiled. "We'll need to prepare a feast then. And a little ceremoney to welcome her, now won't we?"  
  
Roald sighed. His sister was in her element; social events like the ones that would be coming up were her forte. "Yes. Something diplomatic like that would be in order."  
  
She sat down again and crossed her legs. "Surely though, Tiriki is not her real name. Tiriki just means Child of Light," she said lazily.  
  
"We aren't given her real name, but he prophesies make it seem like she'll respond to Tiriki."  
  
Inanna snapped her fingers twice and two scribes stepped forth from the shadows. "I need you to make a to-do list." She waited patiently as the scribes made ready to write. Even though only one was doing the writing, two were needed to prepare quickly. One of them clipped the stylus and made ink the other rubbed a tablet of wood smooth. Once the writer was situated comfortably, Inanna began. "Arrangements for a banquet. Thirty ducks, roasted. Fish, bass I think, would be nice. vegetables, we must have vegetables. Have them make a salad. Enough for a banquet mind you. A fruit soup with almond jelly for desert. Anything else the cooks wish to arrange is up to them. They aren't to make any of this until I give them the go ahead though. This is just a warning. I trust them. Then I want the tailor to stand at the ready to make clothes for the visitor and any companions she may have with her. That's a must. I don't think they'll have clothes suited to our climate. I want preparations to be made for a journey. I want scouts on the roads watching for any sign of visitors. As soon as it is reported they are here, I want court to be moved outside, so preparations for holding court outside. I think that's it." She paused, thinking, as the writer furiously wrote to catch up. The sound of the reed stylus scraping the wood was almost soothingly rythmic. When he was finished, the scribe waited patiently, his pen poised for writing.  
  
"Do you know when they're coming Roald?" She turned to her brother and asked.  
  
Roald shook his head. "Well, then," Inanna mused. "I guess we'll just have to frusterate everyone by saying that the time is unknown for now, but they need to be prepared for immediate action. Do you have that?" she asked the scribe who was once again scribbling away.  
  
He handed the block of wood to the queen when she was done. She held her hand over it and a thin layer of the wood peeled off, forming a piece of paper. She pressed her thumb to the paper and her customary signature appeared in a sparkling white. Handing the announcement to another servant, she ordered him to notify the people refered to in her message about the upcoming events. The boy nodded and scrambled away.  
  
As the boy retreated, Inanna slapped her thigh. "Shoot. I forgot about music. Oh well, that can be made up for later"  
  
Inanna sat back smiling smugly at the way she handled the near crisis. She was grateful that the Child of Light was coming; carrying the key around was such a nuisance. Come to think of it, when she had first come into posession of it, a strange lizard-man came. She was used to recieving visitors from other plantes, but this one was strange because he offered an alliance,to fight against the Child who would come for the keys. She rejected the offer. He had a bubble of dark matter that was always with him, and Inanna had taken it as a sign of what would engulf her people if she had agreed to his proposal.  
  
A dull thud accompanied with a small tremor shook the earth. The same servant who moments before had scampered away with Inanna's notice, scrambled back to bring news. He stooped over to catch his breath, swallowed, and announced, "I think your visitors are here your majesty..."  
  
Roald watched as the smile vanshed from his sister's face. He suspected that she wasn't quite expecting the Child of Light to make such an entrance. Inanna got up and started walking, following the servant. Much to her annoyance, no one in her court followed her except for Roald, "Well? What are you waiting for? Come along," she sniffed.  
  
The four humans and four guardians stood at the entrance to the ship. As the door opened, they felt a blast of heat penatrate the cool of the ship. "Whoa, this is a lot hotter than it ever got in Hong Kong or Japan," Syaoran declared, tugging at the collar of his shirt.  
  
The intense heat was suffocating. Rika was the first to step out of the ship into the whithering warmth with Nakuru in tow. Suppi, already languishing in the heat, was sprawled out on top of Rika's head.  
  
The amazing scenery though, made them forget about the heat temporarily. They had landed in the most exotic of places. There were trailing vines all along the walls. The leaves were all shades of green, from a jazzy yellow-green to a soft, mellow blue-green. The shapes and sizes of the leaves were fascinating as well: large, small, pointy, smooth. The vein patterns were different than the ones on earth from square ones to round ones. The flowers were gargantuan and blooming from all different places. One particularly colorful one was sprouting from the tip of a leaf. Another was big enough to fit a whole person inside.  
  
The animals were fantastic as well. There was a bird, or an insect, they couldn't tell which, but it was buzzing around some of the flowers. Its stripped and feathered back was a contrast to its spotted beak. The insect/bird discovered the strangers and flew closer to investigate. Unfortunately for it, it chose to investigat the already suffering Suppi.  
  
Suppi lazily opened an eye to find the source of the buzzing he was hearing. He found himself face to face, eye to eye rather, with a bizzare, bespeckled, bestriped cross between a bird and bug. He jumped up and yelled, diving into Ruby Moon's arms (for the first and last time). The thing, however, seemed to be taken with Suppi and flew around Ruby Moon until Suppi emerged and once again found himself eye to eye with an animal that he never wanted to even see or imagine in the first place!  
  
Lucky for him, it was at that moment Inanna and her court arrived. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw where they had landed, or rather, _what_ they had landed on (they had completely demolished one of her nicer looking fountains). Her eyes then scanned over the group of people before her. A brown haired woman, a red haired woman, one with green eyes, and man with honey eyes and another with silver hair (her eyes were reluctant to leave his face) and another wth dark hair There was a flying yellow animal and a kihana bird was looking at something the red haired woman was holding.  
  
Inanna walked up to the red haired woman and shooed the kihana bird away. A blue-black animal popped out. "I never want to see that _thing_ again. EVER," he gasped.  
  
Inanna's attention zeroed in on poor Suppi. "I wasn't aware that Earth had flying cats," she commented.  
  
"Well...errm.." Nakuru started, "He isn't exactally an animal-"  
  
"Oh! Is he some sort of mechanical toy then?" She grabbed Suppi by the tail and shook him up and down, wiggled his arms and legs, and in general, squeezed him to death.  
  
"Did someone say it was 'Pick-on-Spinel-Sun-Day' behind my back?" he managed to grunt out.  
  
"No," Nakuru's eyes twinkled. "But now that you mention it-" She was cut off again by Inanna. During Suppi's little sentence, Roald had come up to her and pointed out Tiriki. Inanna looked at her.  
  
"Tiriki and friends," she said tentatively.  
  
At the mentionof the name Tiriki, a great change came over Rika. Once again, an air of greatness settled around Rika. She was unaware of the change except that all of a sudded, she knew what to do, what to say, how to act, et cetera. She knew it all. "Rika Sasaki if my name. Call me Rika." Rika went on to introduce her friends.  
  
"Welcome to Ishtar," Inanna said, extending her arms. "Allow me to provide you with rooms and clothes," she paused, eyeing their current attire. "I think you might find our clothes to be much more comfortable. And you _will_ stay for a few days, won't you?" she added earnestly while leading them through the corridors of the palace.   
  
  
  



	6. Part 1: The Key of Love and the Static C...

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
  
  
  
  


**The Key of Love and the Static cling that won't go away**

  
  
  
The night was much cooler than the afternoon, making the evening much more enjoyable. Rika had been meaning to ask Inanna about the key, but she had forgotten. There had been some qualms about wearing the clothes Inanna had for them, especially with Yue, but after that issue was settled, they had to admit, they were much more comfortable.  
  
Inanna had spent the evening trying to get Yue's attention. He fascinated her. When she thought no one was looking, he eyes hung all over him like a dog greeting his master. Rika noticed though. She was sitting to Inanna's left and sometimes would try to speak to her and would find her gazing at Yue. In truth, Inanna was attracted to him. He was quite different than everyone else in the group and this intrigued her.   
  
She flirted unmercifully with him. Yue had no idea what was going on, except that Inanna kept trying to get his attention and he was uncomfortable with it.  
  
Nakuru, being Nakuru, noticed as well and part of her wanted to help Inanna out, but her more serious side decided that helping Yue would help her out in the long run. So when Inanna had Yue in an awkward spot, she snuck up behind them and glomped Yue.  
  
He wanted to protest, but then realized how this would get Inanna off his back, figuatively. "Yue!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been looking all over for you!!!!!!" she yelled.  
  
"Ruby....Moon.....you're....choking....me.....again...." Yue coughed, trying to pry her arms from his neck.  
  
"Oh...ehehehehe....sorry." She let go of him.  
  
Inanna watched, surprised. She had been under the impression that Yue was unattatched, but then again, this could just be the way those two were around each other.   
"Ruby Moon, why is-"  
  
"Oh, Yue, _daaaaaah-ling_. I missed you." Nakuru was clinging to his arm now.  
  
Yue knew what she was doing now. He owed her. "Nakuru, you just saw me ten minutes ago. What are you talking about?"  
  
"Yes, but I was desolate each of those ten minutes!"  
  
Yue sighed, Nakuru certainly was putting on an excellent performance. He bowed to the queen and excused the two of them. Inanna sighed. Well, there'd be other fish in the sea.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Early the next morning, Inanna woke Rika up and brought in breakfast for her. "I know why you're here."  
  
Rika knew Inanna knew. "Yes."  
  
Inanna took the medalion from around her neck. A pink flower was carved on one side and the written symbol for love on the other. She put it in Rika's hand. "I'm glad to finally be rid of it."  
  
The fervent tone in which Inanna declared her state of mind caught Rika by surprise. "You're glad to get rid of it?"  
  
"I'll bet you're wondering why too." Rika nodded. "Well, when I first inherited the throne, that medalion you're holding in your hands was one of the things that had been in my family for generations. I remember when my father inherited it, a man came and offered my father an alliance. I didn't know then why the man came, but after I became queen, the man came again. He wanted to form an alliance to fend against the Child of Light and the Child of Dark. That's you."  
  
"But you didn't take the offer. Why?"  
  
She leanded back against some coushins and closed her eyes. "He had a bubble of darkness that was always around him. I distrusted him and it almost seemed like the bubble controled him. I didn't want my people and my planet to turn into something like him."  
  
Rika nodded again. She fingered the talisman. "I was half expecting that I'd need to make a speech or write something formal to ask for this."  
  
"And in some places, you will. In some places, you will. You'll want to be careful where you make your presence known. I don't know how many more of those things there are, but I'm sure he's allied himself with a few of them."  
  
"Do you know anything about these?"  
  
Inanna shook her head. "It's just been in my family for generations. The universe is a dangerous place," she added before getting up to leave.  
  
Rika wanted to stop Inanna from leaving, she wanted Inanna to answer her questions. How did they know who she was? Why did they call her Tiriki? Why did she answer to Tiriki? She had never heard that name in her life until yesterday. Then she remembered something more important: what was the name of the dark man?  
  
Life used to be so simple and she had thought it complex. What folly! Rika examined the medalion and chain. The chain could not be unclasped, but the whole necklace could not possibly fit into the box. There was a silver ring around the grey talisman. Rika discovered that the frame was hinged and could be taken apart, and the key could be taken out.  
  
She had brought the box with her. It was in the pants pocket of her old clothes. Taking that out as well as her key, she opened the box and placed the Key of Love in it. She was half expecting something spectacular to happen, but nothing out of the ordinary occured. The box snapped shut with a soft click. She looked at the box again, on the outside, the flower symbolizing Love was sparkling and glowing while the others were dull and subdued. So, she thought to herself, the symbol on the outside will start glowing when I have the right key.  
  
Rika used to want some adventure in life; she'd had her share of adventure now, except, she was unable to turn away until she had finished gathering the keys. One down, five more to go. Hopefully, they would all be as easy as the Key of Love.  
  
To Rika, this box was her past present and future. It was this box that would bring back her world, her life, Tereda....  
  
She wondered how Eriol was handling the loss of Tomoyo. The only thing that kept her from sitting down and giving up was that bringing this box back to Earth with the six keys was her key to living.  
  
Rowan's explination of the earth situation made her life seem almost trivial. Almost. Because she was the keeper of the keys, her life was not trivial. She was born with a purpose. Everyone was born with a purpose. That was what she had grwn up believing. She had questioned her purpose though, until graduation night, when everything changed.  
  
It hurt so much to think that she might never see Yoshiyuki again. Sometimes at night, she could almost feel his arms around her shoulders or her waist, a phantom kiss against her lips or cheek. Even though they had been gone for less than a week, she missed him more than ever and wondered how she had lived without him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
For the rest of their stay on Ishtar, Ruby Moon left Spinel Sun alone, clinging to Yue, to keep him from Inanna. Suppi wanted to know why Yue was suddenly her favorite thing in the world, but was afraid that by asking, he would bring attention to himself and therefore become the object of her "affections" again. Kero, too, noticed the change and said, "Nakuru's hanging onto Yue a lot isn't she?"  
  
Suppi just smiled, basking in the warmth of freedom, "Lucky Yue."  
  
Nakuru clung to Yue all the way up to when they were about to leave. Rika was the last one to board the ship. Inanna kissed both her cheeks and whispered. "Beware of the lizard-man named Sobek." She looked at Yue one last time and then turned away.  
  
After the doors closed, Nakuru heaved a sigh and pushed Yue away. Yue, too was relieved to be relieved of Nakuru. "I hope, I really, truly, dearly hope, that never, ever happens again," Yue sighed. "That was two and a half days I don't want to repeat ever again."  
  
"You owe me, Yue," Nakuru retorted with mock bitterness.  
  
Sakura watched in amusement. "So, either of the two of you want to enlighten us on what was happening?"  
  
"I wish I had a camera. The way Nakuru was hanging on to you was absolutely hilarious," Syaoran commented.  
  
"I'm going to have to agree with you on that one," Eriol said.   
"I thought maybe Ruby Moon had contracted some sort of tropical disease," Suppi added, daring to venture close to her.  
  
"I though Yue had gone insane from the heat and embarassment of wearing almost nothing," Kero said.  
  
"Did it have to do with Inanna?" asked Rika.  
  
"It did actually," Nakuru started. There was a jolt as the space ship cleared the atmosphere.  
  
"Then I think I understand..." Rika smiled.  
  
"I still have no clue what's going on," Sakura blinked.  
  
"Inanna was attracted to Yue. I don't know if any of you noticed, but she would look at him like...like...oh, I can't describe it," Rika explained.  
  
"Like a piece of meat she'd like to taste," Yue said miserably.  
  
"And then I saw and I heroically decided to save Yue," Nakuru proclaimed, "although, I'd be lying if I said it was my first choice. I was sorely tempted to encourage the queen, but I decided that if I did, Yue would hate me for the rest of my life."  
  
"It was fine at first, but Ruby Moon, you did get way to clingy near the end."  
  
"Ahhh, yes, the static cling that won't go away," Suppi sagely exlaimed.  
  
Nakuru glared, "I just _know_ you were absolutely desolate without me Suppi dearest," she said snatching the dark-colored guardian from the air. She jumped up and marched to the kitchen. "So, to celebate, I'm going to make all kinds of yummy foods **just for you**. Isn't that wonderful?"  
  
"No, no, I assure you, Ruby Moon, I'm quite full." Suppi was trying to get out of Nakuru's fist.  
  
"No you aren't."  
  
"Yes I am."  
  
"No you aren't."  
  
Kero flew to Yue and looked at him with puppy eyes. "Make me food too."  
  
"Yue doesn't cook," he coldly said. Yue was obviously back to his old self.  
  
"Don't worry, Kero, there'll be more than enough for you and Suppi!" Nakuru called over her shoulder.  
  
"Noooooooooooooo," was Suppi's faint moan.  
  
After those three were in the kitchen and everyone else was back in normal clothes, Eriol asked Rika, "What was it that Inanna told you?"  
  
"She said 'Beware of the Lizard man named Sobek.' I'm assuming he's the one who tried to make an alliance with her against me."  
  
Sobek. Even his name sounded twisted. "Well the key and the box are safe right?" Syaoran asked.  
  
Rika nodded. "Why don't we not worry about him too much until we have to then?"  
  
"Right. Who knows, we may find out more about him as time goes on."   
  
  
  
  
a/n: Sobek was an Egyptian god with an aligator head. The Egyptians believed he was essentially evil and sacrificed to him a lot. He was also one of the judges of the afterlife. I swear, I made up this character but I couldn't think of a name so I looked in a mythology book and BOOM there it was. 


	7. Part 1: The Bad Guy makes his move

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
a/n: I'm pretty sure this is a chapter that's spelling error free. ^^   
  
  
  


**The Bad Guy makes his move**

  
  
  
Concha glared into the darkness. She could have sworn she had seen something moving. Sobek perhaps? No. He hadn't been heard from in almost fifty years. If it was a servant, the servant would have to pay for disturbing her from her rest. She couldn't find anyone or anything so she went back to sleep.  
  
He wanted to surprise her. Sobek waited until Concha was asleep again. He came up to her bed and gently traced the line of her jaw to her neck and shoulder. Concha woke up suddenly and grabbed his hand. She sat up in bed again and glared at him. "So. You're back. What do you want?" she spat out.  
  
"What?" Sobek started in mock anger. "No lover's kiss?"  
  
"Get out of here."  
  
Sobek got up and paced around. "In forty seven years, you haven't changed." It was true. Concha looked exactally like he remembered. Perfect dark skin, perfect dark hair, perfect dark eyes, perfect dark personality. He loved it.  
  
"Neither have you I see." And that was true too. Sobek was still an eerie combination of lizard and man. He still had a way of sneaking up behind people and he probably was still good at making love, though she didn't particularly want to find out.  
  
"What do you want? Ask for it and get out."  
  
"You still haven't forgiven me have you?"  
  
"If you're only here to ask for that, you should leave now."  
  
He moved quickly to her side. "No. Your forgivance is not necessary at this time." He threw back his hood. "Concha, Concha. You're still very desirable." His hand caressed her face.  
  
"When others were repelled by you, I saw through to you. I'm sure if I tried, I would find you to be the same," she whispered, removing his hand from her face.  
  
She had an arm band with a snake carved onto it. Sobek touched it. "If you really hated me, you wouldn't have this anymore."  
  
"It's a good piece of jewlry."  
  
"Yet it's the only piece of jewley you wear."  
  
"Not true," she said touching a necklace under her nightgown.  
  
"It's the only piece that matters," he kissed her. Concha had wanted to show Sobek that she had changed, that she was resistant to him now, but truthfully, part of her had wanted him back. She had suppressed it carefully for years, until now. His kiss allowed that hated part of her to dominate. Sobek could tell Concha was melting. A few seconds under his mouth and she would be his.  
  
He reached under her nightgown for the necklace. Concha grabbed his hand and pushed him away, wiping her mouth. "You really haven't changed. I can't believe I let you do that."  
  
"Just let me have the necklace."  
  
"You'd better leave before I call the guards."  
  
"As if you would." The bauble of darkness suddenly appeared beside him. Concha shuddered.  
  
"You still have that stupid thing?"  
  
"It's not stupid. You're stupid for not giving me what I want."  
  
"Why should I give this to you?"  
  
"Because I'm your lover."  
  
"No. You _were_ my lover."  
  
"Because I fathered your son."  
  
"A son that tried to kill me and is now dead. Because of you."  
  
"Because I-"  
  
"Face it Sobek. You have no reason. GUARDS!"  
  
Two huge men stormed in and saw Sobek. They tried to seize him, but he disappeared in a ring of sickly yellow fire, his bauble with him. Concha yelled in frustration. "Damn it, Damnit, Damnit! He got away."  
  
"What do you want us to do?" the guards asked.  
  
"Nothing. Get out." Concha needed some time to think. If Sobek was back wanting the necklace....that meant....  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Nakuru managed to con Suppi into eating a sandwich that had sugar sprinkled liberally onto it, right in between the lettuce and tomatoes. Eriol managed to calm Suppi down by putting a spell on him. "Is he done?" Kero asked from his hiding place.  
  
"It's safe to come out now," Eriol laughed. "Ruby Moon! As for you..." he paused to think. Ruby Moon would have to stop provoking Suppi or else he would blow up their ship. Nakuru wondered what kind of punishment she was going to have to face. "Ruby Moon. You're on probation. NO SWEETS FOR TEN DAYS!"  
  
"Ten days?! Eriol-" she started to whine.  
  
"RUBY MOON. Ten days."  
  
"Yes master," she slinked off to sulk in a room.  
  
"Who'll take care of dessert now?" Kero asked.  
  
"Is that _all_ you care about?" Yue demanded.  
  
Sakura giggled. "Yue, you should try eating sweets."  
  
"If that's what my mistress commands-"  
  
"No, no. Only if you want to."  
  
"Hmm....If I remember correctly, Rika was very good at making deserts," Syaoran suggested.  
  
"Oh Rika!!!!!!!!!" Kero sang as he flew off to find his new best friend. This was the epitomy of true cupboard love.  
  
Syaoran glanced at Sakura who was busy explaining to Yue for the nth time that he should call her Sakura, not mistress because she was his friend more than anything else. Then he glanced at Eriol who was walking off with a snoring Suppi. The room was a wreck. Living with Suppi and Nakuru was more excitement than he needed. He had a new respect for Eriol, although he'd die before admitting it. He had mentioned his thoughts to Sakura who's only response was "Well, Syaoran, then what are you going to do when we have kids?" He could only blush.  
  
If they ever got back to earth to have kids. Sakura had finished with Yue and Yue walked off. She smiled at Syaoran. These days, Syaoran seemed more confused than ever. Sakura often wondered what the reason was, but he was so cute when he was confused, she decided not to mention it.  
  
"What are you thinking?" She walked over into his open arms.  
  
"How does Eriol manage to live with Nakuru and Spinel sun?"  
  
"Too much excitement for you again?"  
  
"No, just wondering actually."  
  
"How many days have we been away?"  
  
"Umm....almost twenty I think."  
  
Sakura snuggled against his chest. "If we were at home, we'd be in Hong Kong right now."  
  
Hong Kong. Home. It didn't matter where, it only mattered that it was home. But for now, this would be home.  
  
Rika walked into the room. Her eyes rested on Syaoran and Sakura hugging. Yoshiyuki and her used to hug like that. She ducked back into the hallway. No doubt those two were talking about home. If she was home right now, she'd probably be on her way to being Rika Tereda. Rika Tereda, Rika Tereda. She liked the sound of that.  
  
But she wasn't at home. Yoshi wasn't here. She was still Rika Sasaki. Rika hugged herself. Yoshiyuki. The last time they had hugged was right before she rang the doorbell to Sakura's house. The last time they had kissed was before she got into his car that same night. Suddenly, she wished she had gotten herself pregnant so she'd have something she could remember him by. But she hadn't. They were very careful not to go to far when ever they were alone.  
  
She steadied herself and walked into the room again. Sakura and Syaoran were talking again. Something about sneaking into each others rooms...Rika knew what they were thinking. There was no Touya here, their parents weren't here. Of course that's what they would be thinking about. Rika giggled. Syaoran turned extremely red and held Sakura at arms length. "What's wrong Syaoran?" She hadn't heard Rika.  
  
"Sorry, I was just going to get a snack. You two want anything?" she played innocent. Soon though, they were going to have a "girl's night out" and then she could have her fun.  
  
Sakura looked up at her fiancee after Rika left and laughed. "I can't believe you still turn so red!"  
  
"Habit," he grunted.  
  
"It's a cute habit."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
_Once upon a time, there was a powerful sorceress named Jadis. She was older than everything. When the next oldest person in the village was a child, Jadis was old. She claimed to have been many places and seen great things. Everyone believed her, who could not? There was no one to dispute her claim, after all, she was old.  
  
She often disappeared for long periods of time. No one knew where she went, she told no one. She possessed the secret to eternal youth and was cunning and sly like no other. On one such trip, she brought back a necklace. A medallion of great power. On one side of the disk was a serpent painted in brilliant green and on the other side was a word in a foreign tongue. Jadis used the medal as a catalyst for her power. Soon, she controlled much of the village and neighboring villages.  
  
She had a little servant girl. The servant girl asked where she had gotten her medal, for she was hypnotized by its power. Jadis usually never spoke of her trips elsewhere, but she told the little girl that she had gone away and meet a man. The man and she fell in love. He seemed to know that Jadis had lived forever, and when it came time for Jadis and the man to part ways, he gave her the medal as a gift.  
  
"Some one will come for it in the future. Since you'll live that long, make sure it reaches the person safely," he told her.  
  
"How will I know though? How will I know who to give it to?" she had asked.  
  
"You will," he told her and he smiled. It was an irritating habit of his.  
  
She told that to the little girl. When the little girl asked the man's name, Jadis seemed to realize what she had just done and peevishly told the girl to get back to work.  
  
When the girl grew up, she fell in love with a stranger from another planet who had heard of Jadis' power. They had only one thing in common: they wanted her necklace. The two planned in secret for many years on how to obtain their prize. During those years, they had a son.  
  
When the necklace was retrieved and Jadis killed, the stranger demanded the necklace from the servant girl. When she refused to submit, he turned their son against her. She was now the most powerful woman in the village, no longer a servant, and she commanded the warriors. With a heavy heart, she killed her own son and drove her lover away.  
  
The little servant girl was Concha; the stranger was Sobek; and it may interest the reader that Rowan looks exactly like Jadis.  
_   
  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. Part 1: Two of a kind

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
  
  
  
  


**Two of a Kind**

  
  
  
"One day, the Child of Light will come, and I will be with her, then you will pay," Jadis had whispered as she died, and those words had haunted Concha ever since. If Sobek was back, that meant Jadis and the Child of Light would come....soon.  
  
Her first reaction was to hide in the nearby mountains or go off world, except that if Jadis really was with the Child, he or she would be able to track Concha down easily. She paced back and forth in her bare room. Although the rest of her house was lavishly decorated, Concha only kept the necessities in her own room. Severity of her room helped her think, and the heptagon shape was for luck. Today, she was having no luck with her thinking.  
  
"Why don't you make a fake?" Concha turned around and sighed. Sobek's habit of popping up in rooms, unwelcome, was always irritating.  
  
"Why don't you leave?" Sobek shrugged and disappeared in his usual ring of fire. She shuddered.  
  
Unfortunately, today, Sobek actually had a good idea. A fake with enough of her magic in it to convince people that it was real. Except, if the Child of Light had a way of telling fakes apart from authentics, then the plan forming in her mind wouldn't work. There was also no way of telling the magnitude of power the Child would have. She obviously would have some degree of magic, since she was after her talisman, but how much would be another issue.  
  
Oh well, there was no reason to get bent out of shape over possibilities, Concha thought to herself, after all, if I didn't take risks ever once in a while, I wouldn't be where I am today.   
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sakura looked at her cards. She hadn't needed to use them since they were in elementary school and since then, she used them to help her when she was doing chores or when Tomoyo wanted to make a movie with really cool "special effects". She wondered if they would grow "rusty" from disuse, but then again, she _had_ used all of them multiple times in the past few years.  
  
After Clow made the cards, did he just leave them there and use them only occasionally? That would be a good question for Kero and Yue. Sakura would just have to remind herself to ask when they were around. Then she remembered. Maybe something would come up on this trip and she would have to use the Sakura Cards again. But then again, she had never done battle against an actual evil opponent before. Capturing the Clow cards was hardly called defeating bad guys, and even though Eriol's creations did try to kill her, they weren't exactally bad guys too. And the madoushi in Hong Kong wasn't really bad, she had only misunderstood.  
  
No, Sakura really hadn't ever fought against a real "bad guy" before. The possibility of having to fight for her life sometime in the near future was frightening and thrilling at the same time. She lay back in her bed, wondering what it would be like to actually have to fight for her life using her magic or defend those she loved.  
  
A vision of a battle between the deepest dark and the brightest light flashed before her eyes. Pain flooded her heart and body and the salty, iron taste of blood filled her mouth. When the vision left, Sakura hugged herself and touched herself, making sure that she was whole. The heavy taste of blood was gone, and she was perfectly fine, but she had been shown the future, and she did not like it at all.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sobek chuckled to himself and his bauble quaked with silent mirth. Concha would be there to do his dirty work for him, so he wouldn't be blamed. He could stay in the shadows this time and plan all he wanted. The only thing he had to do right was plant the right ideas at the right time in Concha's pretty little head.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Concha's smooth hands carefully fingered the reigns of the horse. It had been a long time since she had hitched a horse to a wagon. Too long, but her fingers still knew the moves. She had left an illusion of her in her room, too fool any chance intruders and found and old scraggly wool cloak with which to hide herself.  
  
The day was only just befinning; the sky was a lazy bronze and the air was still hilly. As she set off down a little used road to a nearby city, the muffled clink of metal could be heard through a lumpy cotton cover.  
  
When she reached the city, sounds of the market place being set up and smells of food vendors getting ready for a new day permeated the air. She thought she had come too late for a good spot when she saw it; an empty space near a large plaza. If this city is anything like most others, she thought to herself, then this plaza will get a lot of attention. A running fountain in the center was surrounded by a ring of trees a few feet away from the fountain. All along the edge of the courtyard, other vendors were setting up their wares.  
  
Getting off her cart, Concha circled around to the back and lifted the cotton cover revealing a beautiful silk cloth tied around something. She moved her horse and cart to a safe place and took out the silk bundle. The knot easily slid apart and necklaces, each with a silver chain and a pendant, fell into veiw. She just finished arranging the jewelry when the shoppers started venturing out.  
  
"These are beautiful," a passerby commented.  
  
Concha looked up. "Yes. Are they not? They have magic in them to bring luck."  
  
"But these are all the same!" Another exclaimed while squatting to have a closer look.  
  
"Nonetheless, they _do_ bring luck to the wearer," Concha replied.  
  
"Well, the snake is the symbol of our patron god," someone said hesitantly.  
  
"Prove to us that there's magic in them," another shouted out.  
  
Concha smiled and chose a talisman from the cloth. The one she picked up was special. The one she picked up was her bait. The one she picked up was the only one in the batch she had power over. She had poured her own magic into this one then altered it to make it feel like the same power _her_ talisman emitted, just in case the Child of Light had magic. Jun in case. "All right, does anyone here have any Sawol powder?" she asked, naming a very expensive, very accurate magic-revealing powder.  
  
"Do you think anyone here actually carries something like that around?"  
  
"I do," Concha retorted, "But since it is mine, you might not believe me if I used it."  
  
"Use it then," a different woman prompted.  
  
Concha shrugged and brought out a small brown pouch containing a fine grey powder. She dipped her finger into the pouch and brought it out. The bery tip of her finger was barely covered. She touched it to the medallion and the jewelry immediately started glowing.  
  
"So there _is_ magic!" the woman exclaimed and promptly bought one.  
  
Business was excellent the rest of the day. And when the sun departed from the plaza, so did Concha.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Ahhh...Finally! Fresh air!" Nakuru exclaimed, jumping off the ship. They had been traveling for almost a month and a half.  
  
"This place...it almost seems as if there's no one here," Syaoran commented, and it was true. They had landed in a grass field that was not very green. Everything around them was an earth color - deep greens and varied browns - the only exception was the sky, a dull, depressing blue.  
  
"Not a very encouraging landscape," Eriol observed.  
  
"Indeed," Yue commented.  
  
"Can you sense anything Rika?" Kero asked from his perch on her shoulder.  
  
She shrugged. "I can feel it coming from two different directions for some reason."  
  
"Is there one that's stronger?" Sakura inquired.  
  
She pointed in the direction she sensed magic coming from. "I don't get it though. We're supposed to land close to the key. The magic I'm feeling is rather far away."  
  
"What about the other one?"  
  
"That one's far away too and in the oposite direction."  
  
"As if the ship didn't know where to go," Spinel mused.  
  
"Well, which way should we plow ahead on?" Ruby enthusiastically exclaimed.  
  
"We would have to go to both placed anyways," Syaoran started, "So I guess it doesn't matter."  
  
Sakura looked around and the silent circle. "Are we just going to stand here forever?"  
  
Yue looked at his mistress. "What about the ship?"  
  
"Oh, I forgot about that," she said, lowering her eyes in thought.  
  
"Is there away you or Eriol could make it invisible?" Syaoran asked.  
  
Eriol shook his head. "Too much energy. We shouldn't waste our magic like that."  
  
"Maybe some of us could stay behind?" Kero suggested.  
  
"We might need everyone," Yue said.  
  
As the argued, Rika slipped into the ship and called up the hologram of Rowan. "How do we make the ship safe?" she asked.  
  
"She has a mechanism for invisability. She also has a mechanism to guard against intruders."  
  
"So how do we activate these things?"  
  
"The invisability has a switch. The intruder defense is atutomatically activated whenever you or your friends aren't on the ship."  
  
"Turn on the invisibility."  
  
"Of course."  
  
Outside, the remainder of the group was absorbed in arguing about the ship when Nakuru looked up, "Um...guys, you might want to take a look at this..."   
"It...It's...gone," Yue stuttered.  
  
The air on the side of the ship wavered a little as an opening appeared and out stepped Rika. She looked up at the ship when she was out. "Oh, It worked."  
  
"What did you do?" Syaoran asked.  
  
"Well, I remembered that Rowan has said there was another copy of her on board. I figured she would know." Her voice trailed off when she realized that she was the center of attention.  
  
"Well then," Eriol started after realizing that Rika was uncomfortable, "now that that's settled, let's go!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. Part 1: How did I get coned into this?

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
  
  
  
  


**"How did I get con-ed into this?"**

  
  
  
  
Their chosen path had brought them to the fortified gates of a large city. The walls were constructed out of massive blocks of stone that were two arms length across in width. Inside the city, people were bustling about gossiping, shopping, wandering. Rika followed her inner sense and led the group to where she thought the key was.  
  
So, after a few minutes of walking about the city, they stopped in front of a sumptuous house. Rika knocked, "Is the master of the house in?"  
  
The door opened and a young girl peeped out. "Who's calling?"  
  
"Err...we just came by to...umm..."  
  
"Who is it?" A voice called from inside the house, saving Rika.  
  
"People to see you," the girl called back.  
  
A taller woman stepped into view. Her pale skin was countered by rich dark hair. She wore a voluminous gown that hid the shape of her body and the way she carried herself suggested that she was used to being treated with a good amount of respect. Around her neck, heavily laden with jewels, hung the sought after medallion.  
  
Rika's eyes lit up. "May we-"  
  
"Who do you think you are?" the woman sniffed. "You beggars these days are bold to actually come to the front door. If you want food, you should go to the kitchen entarence," with that, she turned away and the door closed in their faces.  
  
Eriol blinked. "We look like beggars?"  
  
"She must not be used to our clothes," Nakuru suggested, equally bewildered.  
  
"Now what do we do?" moaned Kero, who had been acting like a stuffed animal.  
  
"I guess we should go back and try to think of something," Yue started walking away.  
  
One the way home, "You look awfully smug, Syaoran," she said glancing sideways at her love.  
  
"I _feel_ smug, my dear," he grinned back at her.  
  
"Care to enlighten me?"  
  
"How do you feel about burglary?"  
  
"Did I hear you right? Did you just say burglary?"  
  
Syaoran nodded eagerly. "I know you can sneak into a house. After all, you've snuck into a museum before."  
  
Sakura choked a little. "Me? Wait. How did you know about the museum?"  
  
"I was there. I was on the roof watching you and Tomoyo."  
  
"Oh, that's right. It was right before you came..." she started thoughtfully. "Well, I just have you know, mister, that I was completely against sneaking into the museum."  
  
"Then why'd you do it?"  
  
"It was a Clow Card. I had to."  
  
"So do it again. Don't you think the fate of our world is just as important?"  
  
The rest of the way back, Sakura fumed silently. As much as she didn't want to participate in what she knew Syaoran was going to suggest, she also knew that it might be the only possible way. Sure enough, when they were back on the ship, Syaoran did suggest robbing the woman's house.  
  
"Robbing a house?" Rika asked incredulously.  
  
"Sakura's snuck into a museum before, I'm sure sneaking into a simple house would be no problem for her," Syaoran replied.  
  
"Syaoran!" Sakura protested.  
  
Eriol chuckled. "Oh, that's right. Tomoyo showed me the video of that."  
  
"I wish I'd been there," Rika said.  
  
"No you don't. We kept on getting transported outside because we were 'loud'," Kero insisted.  
  
"So it's settled then, Sakura is going to rob that woman's house!" Nakuru cried, clapping her hands.  
  
"No it's not!" Sakura protested.  
  
Eriol put an arm around Sakura's shoulder. "Don't worry, Sakura. You won't be alone. We'll have Yue or Keroberos go with you. Besides, you've kind of done this before."  
  
"Hey! That's my line!" Syaoran gave Eriol a death glare.  
  
"You worry too much, my cute little descendant."  
  
"I have _not_ done this before. The museum thing was different. There was a Clow Card involved!"  
  
"Mistress, this is just as important as a Clow Card," Yue gently asserted.  
  
"We'll just have to make it like last time then!" Kero flew out of the room and quickly flew back with a gaudy costume that looked fairly familiar. Sakura nearly fell over.  
  
"Where did you get that Kero?" she asked faintly.  
  
"He had the computer make one," Suppi answered.  
  
"So what's happening?" Rika asked.  
  
"Sakura and either Kero or Yue are going to go rob that woman's house, to get the medal. Then they'll bring it back and you'll figure out whether or not it's the real one....didn't you say there were two? So doesn't that mean one's fake?" Nakuru supplied.  
  
"Yes to both your questions." Rika paused to think for a minute. "Wait....the two keys...they might be two different keys, so maybe this trip will be twice as fruitful."  
  
Yue volunteered himself for the mission because he would be more effective at sneaking around than Keroberos would be. Watching Sakura and Yue leave, Syaoran hoped he didn't underestimate that rich woman's guards.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Once again, Rika was the center of attention. Sakura had gone along with Eriol and Syaoran's plan and snuck into the woman's house along with Yue. Unfortunately, the woman's security was better than any of them had anticipated, and they had gotten the medal, but the guards found them out. Sakura used the shield card to protect herself and Yue from their projectiles. Yue then attacked them using his blue crystal/fire while Sakura used the illusion card to make it look like they had disappeared and the two made their get away.  
  
So now there they were, back in the ship, a little shaken, but safe, and Rika was going to test the key. In her hand, she held the box. The lid snapped open and she slid the key into one of the slots and closed the box. Rika turned the box so that the side with the snake emblem was facing up. "What," she whispered in a flat, disbelieving voice.  
  
"What's wrong?" someone asked, so absorbed she was in her own thoughts that she couldn't tell who it was.  
  
"Rika..."  
  
"This...this..is..this isn't a...this is a fake! The Key of Power is somewhere else." she announced, her eyes filled with alarmed resignation.  
  
"All that for a fake?!" Sakura protested. "Are you sure?"  
  
"If it were real, the snake on the box would be glowing," Rika affirmed, "so now the question is...why? Why does this feel like the real thing?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"There's one more key on this planet. Perhaps that is the real one," Yue suggested.  
  
"It _has_ to be," Rika declared, staring intently at the star chart they had pulled up a few minutes ago. "There are six keys in all. There are five marks on this map that show us where we are going. We don't know where hope is...yet," she paused, trying to shake off the feeling of dispair in not knowing where one of the keys was. "The other key on this planet is _going_ to be the real one."  
  
"So this person obviously has a lot of magic..." Syaoran started.  
  
"Didn't we decide that already?" Sakura asked tiredly.  
  
"Let me finish, when we go visit this person, we should go ready to use our magic."  
  
"We're always ready to use our magic though," Nakuru pointed out.  
  
"I believe what Syaoran is suggesting is that when we go," Yue paused, " when we go, Keroberos and Spinel Sun are in their normal forms and the Mistress and her friends be in their battle costumes, or at least, have their staffs and sword out."  
  
"Right," Syaoran confirmed.  
  
Rika looked up, "I don't have magic though. What should I do?"  
  
"You _do_ have magic," Eriol insisted, "it's just different from ours."  
  
Seeing Rika's blank look, Spinel filled in for his master, "he means to say that since the keys are magic and you can sense them, you must have magic too."  
  
"Oh, I see. Wouldn't it look odd, though, if all of you had your magical things out, and I had nothing?"  
  
"Well, you have the key and the box, don't you?"  
  
"Yes, but wouldn't it make sense to keep those things hidden. The magician behind this doesn't want to give his or her key away, so he or she might also try to take the key we have right now."  
  
"I hadn't thought of it like that," Syaoran admitted.  
  
"Clow didn't always have a staff the way Eriol does," Kero said thoughtfully, "So, you'll just have to look commanding."  
  
"Not too commanding though," Rika quickly added, "I wouldn't want to be singled out.  
  
"Of course not."  
  
There was nothing left to talk about, but something was still bothering Rika. She feared thought, that if she told her idea, it might cause more worry, so she shouldered the burden herself. Nakuru, whom Rika had grown particularly close too, noticed that Rika seemed to be aged with thought and also noticed that she didn't want to share. Grateful for her understanding, Rika smiled in the dark and tried to stave off worry: if this person had enough power to alter his own magic to feel like the key's, what's to say that he didn't conceal the real keys power and that the key they were going to find the next day wasn't a fake?  
  
So dawned the next morning: Rika still mulling over her pell-mell thoughts. She continued to be preoccupied until Sakura caught her attention.  
  
"Here, Rika, wear this," she said, thrusting a gaudy looking outfit at her. "I figured, since everyone else is dressed up, you and I should be too."  
  
Rika eyed the one Sakura was holding as well as the one she was wearing. "Aren't these rather...conspicuous?"  
  
Sakura shrugged and smiled. "Since you know everything now, remind me to show you the video tapes Tomoyo had of us cardcaptoring. Trust me. There were ones more outrageous than this one."  
  
"When did this one come from?"  
  
"This one was from...let me think. Oh yes, this one was from when I had to defeat Yue to become the new owner of the Clow cards."  
  
"You had to defeat Yue? Remind _me_ to have you tell me more about your cardcaptoring days when this is over," Rika laughed.  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. Part 1: It is time

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
  
  
  
  


**It is time**

  
  
  
  
Upon returning, Concha went back to her room. She had no idea when the Child of Light would be coming, be it months or years, she knew she had bought herself some time. Hopefully in that time, Sobek would come back, and she would be able to find some way to get more information from him. If, though, the Child came before Sobek did, well, then she would have to keep her wits about her.  
  
Sobek, however, was present, hiding, in the shadows. He was able to send his bauble in his place, and it, being the faithful servant that it was, followed Concha, showing Sobek all her movements so that he knew his plan had worked. With Concha doing the dirty work for him, he could watch the Child of Dark with out her knowing, giving him an advantage that would be necessary in order for total victory and winning the keys.  
  
Weeks later, Concha awoke to the sounds of guards scrambling into the front courtyard. She looked out her window and saw two flying figures coming towards the house. Moments later, a troupe of people came into view, all dressed in clothes that looked ridiculous to her, but probably were symbols of power. All of a sudden, fear clenched her heart and she ringed for her maid servant.  
  
This maid, looked astoundingly like Concha, except that the maid had rough hands and hair that was a touch lighter than Concha's for being in the sun so often.  
  
"Here, wear this," she ordered.  
  
"What for?" the maid asked, clearly puzzled.  
  
Briefly, Concha explained to her what would be happening, leaving out any magic and not mentioning the medallion.  
  
"But I don't even know how to act like you!" she protested.  
  
Concha silenced her protests. "You've been in my service since you were a little girl, surely you can pretend."  
  
"But your ministers-"  
  
"Will not notice because you will be convincing."  
  
"But-"  
  
"No more buts. Change clothes with me, before some one fetches you."  
  
"Me?"  
  
"You're Concha starting now. But don't let the power get into your head."  
  
"Yes'm"  
  
Minutes later, another maid came to fetch "Concha". The real Concha followed close behind.  
  
Concha placed herself in the shadows, close to the fake Concha's seat, so she could see everything from the maid's point of view and as she herself would see it were she in the maid's place. Sobek had watched the interchange between Concha and her maid with a certain degree of alarm. Concha was supposed to be in control of the situation! She wasn't supposed to be hiding in the shadows! He was about to materialize when the group walked in.  
  
Yue and Nakuru had been flying and everyone else walking. Their goal was to make the most powerful impression possible without looking too threatening.  
  
"You are...?" the fake Concha asked. They introduced themselves and were also about to tell why they were here when "Concha" inturruped. "My most distinguished guests, you must be tired from your long journey. Let my servants give you quarters in my humble home."  
  
"Umm...ok," Sakura answered, looking around to see if anyone objected. Syaoran scowled at not being able to find the key right away and Rika looked worried.  
  
As "Concha" led the visitors away, the real Concha, hiding in the shadows, let out a sigh of relief. Sobek also took this opportunity to appear.  
  
He grabbed Concha by the shoulders. "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed at her.  
  
Startled, then half relieved to see a familiar face and half disgusted that she had just collapsed into his arms, she sobbed, "can't you feel it? can't you feel it, Sobek? Their aura's, their auras..."  
  
"What about their auras?" he asked, his voice suddenly uncharacteristically gentle.  
  
"It's suffocating. I can't...I can't breath when they're around. Don't you see? I may be more powerful than they, but a new trick and easily disarm a veteran. They will best me in any competition."  
  
"This isn't fencing, Concha. There are ways..."  
  
She knew he was suggesting that he give her some of his own magic, but that would link her to him forever. That would link her to the one man she wanted to wach her hands of forever. But before she could protest, Sobek poured his power into her. "Be brave my little Concha..." he whispered and then disappeared again.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Ok, Rika, you've had that expression pasted on your face since last night, you _have_ to tell me what's wrong," Nakuru demanded.  
  
"Yes, I noticed that on the way here you looked like you were thinking rather hard about something," Sakura added.  
  
"Well, last night, I was thinking, since whoever made the fake was powerful enough to change the feel of his own magic, what if this one that we're trying to get is also a fake? And the reason the real one wasn't sensed some where is because his magic is also strong enough to conceal the real location?"  
  
"Rika, you're fears are not unfounded," Yue started, "but if you dwell on them, they only create more problems."  
  
"Indeed," Eriol agreed. "I didn't even think of this. We're so used to magic being straight forward that we didn't even think of that."  
  
"And goodness knows Eriol concealed his own magic many times before," Suppi said.  
  
"All right then, what about this. The key is going to be much harder to find than we thought. The feeling from the key of Power is so diffused through out Concha's estate that I can't pinpoint it's exact location," Rika continued.  
  
"So that means it's been here a long time and that someone's probably carrying it around with them," Kero thought. He was quiet a moment longer before his face turned sad and anxious. "Looks like I'm going to have to wait longer for those video games than I thought."  
  
"But at least you have sweets, right Kero?" Rika teased.  
  
"Please don't spoil him too much," Yue mock pleaded.  
  
Kero stuck his tongue out at Yue, a laughable sight since Kero had remained in his normal form.  
  
Concha, the real one, the one expertly disguised as a maid, entered to tend the fire and to see if the group needed anything. She wanted to try to find out who the Child of Light was, but except for a petty conversation about something called "chocolate", they were silent. _These people are either idiots or genius'_ she thought to herself. When they weren't looking, she would steal glances in their direction, hoping to see some resemblence to Jadis in their faces or the way the carried themselves, but with no conversation to guide her, Concha was lost. And so she left, not a little discouraged.  
  
Sobek was rather proud of Concha now. He had made it so that she could approach them without being seized with fear. Unfortunately, the Child of Light could not be identified from just looking at them, he would have to wait and see who took charge. It would be interesting to watch how they went about finding the Key of Power though. As a general rule, Sobek didn't involve himself in local politics unless it ultimately involved him possessing a Key. He wasn't quite sure why he had interfered to help Concha, because in the end, it would be one more obstacle between him and his precious goal.  
  
His bauble inturrputed his thoughts. As it quaked and quivered in front of him, he could see his ugly snake face reflected in it. He swipe violently at it with a clawed hand. The last thing he wanted to see, ever, was his face, was his appearance. It dispersed into numerous smaller pockets of darkness before it came together again and reformed itself into the shapeless blob it was. The bauble was a puzzle that even Sobek could not piece together. It had suddenly appeared one night while he was sleeping and had followed him around ever since. When he was yonger, he would try to get rid of it. His mother, a great magician, had even commanded it to show its true form, but it had refused and stayed the same.  
  
Over the years, he learned that the bauble was from him. Borne out of a dream he had. It would be used as a vessle for his own magic and made him even more powerful. He had often used the bauble for spying and other unscrupulous causes, but lately, the bauble was not listening to him. It was going off, doing what ever _it_ wanted. Sobek had tightened him control over the thing, yet it still found ways to get around it. What it wanted, Sobek couldn't guess. This had never happened before. Whatever the thing wanted, it would have to wait until Sobek was done here.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	11. Part 1: Power Play

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
a/n: if you've followed me to this part of the story, I want to say thank you. I think some parts of the story, especially in the beginning, are kind of slow, but they're necessary. You'll have to take my word that the story only gets better. ^^ It's also not going to be quite as slow as the beginning anymore.   
  
  
  


**Power play**

  
  
  
  
Two days passed. Everytime they tried to approach Concha about the keys, she changed the subject or brushed them off. Finally, Rika decided to try by herself. She dressed herself in native clothing, hoping that appearing as closely as a normal person would appear, she would be able to reach Concha more easily. Everyone would have objected to Rika going alone, since she, out of all of them, had not magic, or rather, she had no grasp of her magic. Concha didn't seem to have any magic at all, but that could have just been because she was hiding it well, and it could also have been that she really didn't have any magic and the one who had spelled the fake Key was merely a magician working for her. Either way, Concha was off limits to Rika as long as she was by herself. Of course...no one knew she was going to see her.  
  
As she approached Concha's recieving room, she heard loud arguing between two women. One of the voices was Concha's and the other, Rika didn't recognize. She stopped in front of Concha's door and hesitated for a moment. The yelling stopped abruptly, as if someone inside had heard her. Rika hesitated a moment longer before tapping lightly.  
  
"Come in," Concha's voice answered sweetly. She looked a little flustered and seemed to be more than a little upset over something. Rika went inside and looked around, expecting to see someone else in the room, but seeing only the usual maids. "Have a seat, have a seat," she waved, seeing that it was Rika.  
  
Skipping over the formalities, Rika jumped right in. "Concha, you must be a very powerful magician," Rika half accused.  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked, politely bewildered.  
  
"I mean, to conceal yourself so cleverly and pretending you have no magic."  
  
A panic slowly started to creep into Concha's dark eyes. "I really don't understand..." she trailed off.  
  
"You made a fake key, disguising you magic to feel like someone else's," Rika accused.  
  
"What are you talking about? I have no magic." A slight wrinkling around her eyes showed her increasing distress.  
  
"If you have no magic then, you must have hired a powerful sorcerer. You certainly live lavishly enough to hire one."  
  
"No, no, I did no such thing. I do not know what this..this _key_ you speak of is."  
  
"You have to know what the key is because you are the one who somehow concealed it. You must know!" Rika tried to control her emotions, but Concha's unease was sneaking up on her.  
  
"I do _not_ know. I don't know what you're talking about! I own no talisman that looks like what your friends described to me. I've told all of you that already. Why don't you just go along on your merry little way?"  
  
"Because we know the key is here somewhere. We must have it. It is essential in saving-" Rika cut herself off, not wanting to give away their true mission. She knew, though, that this consistant pleading was wearing down Concha's steely barriers and if she kept it up, Concha would tell her something of interest.  
  
"I sorry that you will not be able to find the key. It is clear that you wish to possess it and it is also clear that I do not have it. I suggest you look elsewhere."  
  
"No," Rika said, her voice lowered so that it was barely perceptible. "No. It is here somewhere. You know where it is. I know you do. Whether you have been bewitched by your magician to keep silent, or whether you gave it to a servant as a gift, you have it somewhere in your house, this I know."  
  
Concha was quiet. Rika could feel her trying to calm herself. Concha was battling herself, trying to surpress a secret. "I...I...kn-" Concha started, but a maid servant suddenly fell over. Concha rushed to her side to help her up.  
  
Rika watched silently. Something about what was happening was wrong. All wrong. Concha helped the maid up. The maid seemed to accept her mistress' help gratefully, but the expression on her face was out of place. For a moment, Rika was almost positive she hadn't seen it, the grateful expression on the maid's face dropped and in it's place, was an expression of hate. Why would the maid hate the help her mistress gave her? It made no sense, but many things didn't make sense.  
  
When Concha returned, Rika felt a new resolve in her. She she would have to start over, softening Concha's will. "I know not what you speak of," Concha said firmly.  
  
Rika turned around, not wanting to speak lest she speak irrationally. After a long pause, "You disappoint me, Concha. I thought you would be a noble woman, and do everything in your power to help us in our mission." Rika paused, wondering where to go next.  
  
"And I have done everything in my power. I have very little power. I have tried to find out what you are talking about...I-" Concha stopped, thinking back to right before Rika came, when she was arguing with the real Concha, the magician Concha, the Concha who was disguised. The real Concha had bidden her to deny the visitors what they wanted and had dismissed her when she inquired what the key they kept referring to was. "I really did try everything in my power. Do you understand, that people expect me to stand around and be beautiful? Do you get it?"  
  
"There are always ways to get around rules," Rika said softly.  
  
"Not here there aren't," Concha said hesitantly, as if she wasn't sure whether or not there were.  
  
"Yet you sound so unsure. Tell me Concha, what do you not want me to know?"  
  
"What do I not want you to know? See here, I've been perfectly reasonable with you. I've told you a dozen times that I haven't the slightest clue what you speak of, yet you insist that I somehow magically know what you are talking about. Why? Why?"  
  
"Because you do. You know it, I know it, but you're fighting yourself on the inside, because you don't want to tell me." Concha looked stricken. So, Rika had guessed what was so distressing to Concha. "I know I'm right. I can see it on your face, so you'd best just tell me what you're trying to hide." Seeing that Concha wasn't about to speak, Rika continued, stretching what she knew a little to make her word more intimidating. "My friends and I, we all have great magical powers. All of us. If you will not tell us, we can easily tear apart your house and look for the talisman, brick by brick, plank by plank."  
  
"I-I-"  
  
"Tell me what's bothering you," Rika modulated her voice so that it sounded like honey. "That internal conflict of yours will stop if you just tell."  
  
"I-I-"  
  
"Will you please-" Rika was inturrupted by a frantic Concha.  
  
"I'm not the real Concha. The real Concha-ah--ah----ah---" her had flew to her throat as she lost her voice.  
  
Rika rushed to her side, cursing to herself. A crash behind her caused her to spin around. But Rika turned too late. All she saw was a door closing, but the maid was missing. The maid that had fallen over a few minutes before. She had not given the fake Concha a look of hatred, but a warning look. "This is just a wild guess, but that maid. She was the real Concha wasn't she?" The fake one nodded. _Then what happened makes sense now,_ Rika's thought's raced. She wanted to sit down and sort through them, but there was no time for that. She rushed out of the room, promising to be back as soon as she found the real Concha and ran straight to find everyone else.  
  
"Sakura, Syaoran, Kero, Eriol, everyone," she panted, "we have to go looking for this - this maid. She looks kind of like Concha, except with darker hair and skin that's a touch lighter...."  
  
"What for?" Nakuru demanded.  
  
Rika shook her head. "Questions later, we have to find her. Now!"  
  
No sooner had she said that, then she was on her way too look for her, everyone else following. They split into two groups, heading in two opposite dirrections. Rika, so absorbed in sorting out her thought of the treachery and finding her way, did not notice Sakura, Yue, Nakuru trailing after her.  
  
Sakura suddenly stopped them. "Syaoran says they found someone trying to leave...in a hurry," she looked meaningfully at Rika.  
  
"Let's go then."  
  
"Don't you want to know where she is?" Sakura called after Rika, who had rushed off.  
  
"Oh....yeah," Rika grinned sheepishly.  
  
"Stables."  
  
"Cool. By the way, how did you talk to Syaoran?"  
  
"Oh...that...I don't know, we were just able to do it one day..."  
  
When they got to the stables, they saw Suppi and Kero watching a woman draped in a dusty, ragged cloak, looking sullen and spiteful. Rika took one look and confirmed her identity. "You're Concha aren't you?"  
  
"So what if I am?" she spat.  
  
"If you are then you can help us," Sakura said.  
  
"No one says I'm going to help you," Concha lifted her chin stubbornly.  
  
"We'd like it if you would help us.  
  
"I know it."  
  
"Do you know what we're looking for too then?" Yue asked.  
  
"Of course I do. I know lots of things."  
  
"Will you tell us where it is?" Rika asked.  
  
"I'd rather die than give my talisman to you."  
  
"Oh would you?" Rika asked, bemused. She obviously didn't think that Concha would _really_ die for the key of power.  
  
"Yes, I would," she declared, pulling out a dagger.  
  
_Oh dear, I had no idea it would come to this,_ Rika thought to herself. "What-" she cleared her throat. "What's so special about this key that you don't want to give it up?"  
  
Concha did a double take. This girl, who was bending so kindly over her, was...she wasn't...it was...she was Jadis! In Concha's mind, Rika's face became infused with Jadis'. "You," she whispered. "You said you would be back for this. I didn't believe you," Concha pulled the talisman out from her dress.  
  
Rika stepped back in confusion. "What? What are you talking about?"  
  
"You! Get out of here! I got rid of you once, I'll do it again," Concha yelled. To her, Rika was completely Jadis now; Jadis was all she saw.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
a/n: well? What are you waiting for? revieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!!!!!!!!!!! *falls over anime style from holding breath too long* 


	12. Part 1: So things really have changed

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
  
  
  
  


**So things really have changed.**

  
  
  
  
Concha was talking to Rika not knowing that it was Rika she was talking to. Rika looked up helplessly. What Concha was talking about, neither Rika nor anyone else knew. Who ever Jadis was, she obviously had offended Concha in some way in the past, and Concha for some reason, was convinced that Rika was this Jadis person. No one was sure what to do either, so they let Concha rant. But then she started threatening them with her knife. Quick as lightning, Yue restrained her and knocked the dagger and key out of her hands and towards Rika. Rika grabbed the key and left the dagger where it had fallen, almost afraid to touch something that only moments before, was poised to kill her.  
  
"Jadis. I never believed you...but you were right again," Concha sobbed in a half crazed voice. "But my magic is stronger than yours, even without your precious talisman!"  
  
Rika could feel Concha gathering her power quickly. It was so strong that even Syaoran, Sakura and Eriol felt it slightly. Sakura got out her staff and was about to use the shield card, but Concha was too fast. A strong force left Concha and headed straight to Rika, who was standing, terrified and wide eyed. But, when the force reached Rika, it hit a wall causing it to dispell and return to Concha.  
  
Concha wretched herself out of Yue's grip, not caring that her magic was slowly returning to her, she decided to get Rika with her bare hands. Like her magic, she too, ran into an invisible wall and fell.  
  
Almost instantaneously, a hooded figure appeared beside her and hissed in indignation. He threw back his hood. "Any of you who dare come near will not live to see the light of day again," he threatened while tending to Concha, who cried out his name upon seeing him.  
  
Her control over her own magic was loosening and her true age was showing. When he had given his magic to her, Sobek had linked himseld to her in a way he had not thought possible. He could feel everything she was going through and this accelerated aging was causing her pain, emotional and physical.  
  
All her magic was going away. The magic he lent her suddenly hit him and he was aware of everything she had been through, her pain and suffering. Her pain and suffering through him. Now he was she and she....she was gone.  
  
How long had he been staring off into space? How had she died? He forgot he was being watched all around and howled his dispair. Sobek had not realized how much he needed Concha to be with him or at least, be alive some where. He had not thought his corrupt heart could be touched by so pure an emotion. So pure and so good.  
  
His bauble floated above Concha's gray-ed head and for once, did not move about in some way, as if it were concentrating very hard on some task. It was then that Sobek understood what the bauble had wanted. It could increase it's power if it absorbed Concha, thereby increasing his own power. He didn't even have to have a key! As much as he grieved the loss of life, this oportunity to increase his magic was too good to pass up, so he stood back.  
  
Rika and the others watched in horror as the black entity slowly engulfed Concha's body. They watched as Concha's body disappeared and then the bauble shrank again. The whole process took no more than a few seconds, and repelled Rika to the very core of her being. She had not felt such a strong emotion since standing at the entrance of the tree and she felt compelled to enter.  
  
"You," Sobek hissed at Rika, locking his gaze with hers. "This is your doing."  
  
Rika's mouth moved, but no sound came out. His eyes challenged her; most of her was terrified, but in the back of her head, a small, tiny thought told her that she could and would beat him. She surpressed it. How could a stupid thought like that be right?  
  
"This is your doing and you will pay." But before anyone could say anything, Sobek vanished.  
  
Rika looked at her companions. "How could that have been my doing? I don't even know who she was talking about!"  
  
"Maybe it has something to do with the 'Child of Light' and 'Child of Dark' thing Rowan talked about," Eriol mused.  
  
Syaoran glanced at him. Eriol looked like he was ready to settle down for a good bout of thinking. "No musing here. I want out. Who knows what will happen when her people find that Concha disappeared?"  
  
"No, we can't go yet," Rika said, remembering the maid who had pretended to be Concha. "There's someone we have to help first," and she led them to the room she had left the fake Concha in.  
  
As they walked, Rika told them the story of what had happened, how Concha had a maid disguised as her, how the maid really didn't know what they were talking about, how distraught the maid was when they were talking, how Rika realized the switch, and how the maid now had lost her voice, and finally, how Rika had promised to come back. When they entered the room though, the maid was no where to be seen. "I...I don't understand," Rika stuttered. "I asked her to stay here..."  
  
"Is this her?" Kero asked pointing at a figure hunched over in the shadows.  
  
Rika came over and looked. "Yes. Yes. This is her." She tried to wake her up unsucessfully and then felt her neck for a pulse. "I...think...she's dead."  
  
Eriol came over. "Yes. She's gone, the poor thing."  
  
Sakura hid her face in Syaoran's shirt. "I hope she's happy where ever she is now."  
  
Rika fingered the key she held in her hand. Was the loss of life worth a key to save her friends and family? Suppi transformed back into his earthly form and landed on Rika's shoulder. "A penny for your thoughts?"  
  
She held the key up to her face so Suppi could see it too. "I wonder...I wonder if all this," she gestured vaugely at the surroundings, "if all this was really worth a piece of stone," she finished bitterly.  
  
"This _magicked_ piece of stone that can bring back our world," Nakuru corrected. "Whether or not this was all worth it though, is for you to decide."  
  
"Wisely said, my guardian," Eriol complemented, "now, I'd like to follow my cute little descendant's advice and get out of here before anyone finds that the lady of the house is missing and not coming back."  
  
When they were safely away from Concha's house and had lef the planet, Sakura suddenly remembered that someone had defended Rika or Rika had defended herself. So she gathered everyone around. "Who put up the barrier in front of Rika today?" she asked.  
  
Everyone shook their heads. "Maybe Rika put it up herself," Kero suggested.  
  
"That's what I was thinking," Sakura agreed.  
  
"How could I have done that?" Rika got a little wild-eyed.  
  
"Remember, you have magic, none of us know how _you_ use it though. I rather think today might have been an example of what you will eventually be able to do," Eriol said.  
  
"Do you feel like it's a burden, Rika? This magic of yours?" Sakura boldly asked. Bashfully, Rika nodded. "I felt the same way too. I felt like I had been tricked by Kero into becoming a Cardcaptor, but then I realized that I already had all that magic inside me. It was just waiting for a chance to show itself. I know you may not believe me now, but-"  
  
"But it's true. Really. Your magic is part of you, and nothing can change that," Syaoran finished for Sakura.  
  
"It's ok not to believe us when we tell you these things; some things in life, you just have to find out for yourself," Sakura concluded.  
  
Rika looked up at two of her best friends who were just as earnestly looking back. "I believe you."  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	13. Part 1: Secrets and tea

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
  
  
  
  


**Secrets and tea**

  
  
  
  
Eriol followed his ears into the kitchen. "Hello, what's everyone doing here?" He sniffed, "and what is that awful, awful smell?" he asked, making a face.  
  
Rika and Sakura turned around and said hi. "I'm showing Sakura how to make this headache tea. Sorry about the smell. Unavoidable." Rika apologized, not looking up from the pot she was stirring.  
  
"Yeah, Syaoran came in before and said he had a headache and Rika said she had a really good tea that worked on headaches."  
  
"And even though it smells now, it really tastes excellent, really," Rika added, hastily turning off the head on the oven.  
  
"So what was all that noise?"  
  
"We were making a lot of noise?" Rika looked at Sakura. Both shruged.  
  
"You make a lot of noise when you're cooking," Sakura stated matter-of-factly.  
  
"But it's a tea!" Eriol said, clearly confused.  
  
"Oh, but you should look at the recipe," Sakura ominously joked.  
  
Eriol did, taking the slip of paper Sakura had offered. As he read, he started frowning. "Rika, when did you write this?"  
  
"Right before you walked in. Why?" she asked.  
  
"Really?" Eriol asked disbelievingly. "You wrote this poem that quickly?"  
  
Now it was Rika's turn to frown. What the heck was Eriol talking about? She looked down at the paper and her expression grew uncertain. "Oh, that." Eriol looked at Rika expectantly. "I wrote it...once before this."  
  
"And - ?"  
  
She let out her breath in a low hiss. "I don't remember writing it though. I wrote it once before at home. Home, home. Before this all happened."  
  
"Do you know what this says? Rika, this was like a prediction," he said in awe.  
  
"I know that now. But then..." Rika laughed. "I didn't even tell Yoshiyuki. I usually tell him everything."  
  
"Mr. Tereda would have understood, I'm sure," Sakura patted Rika on the back.  
  
Rika gave the paper to Sakura, careful to hand it to her with the recipe facing up. "The honey is boiling."  
  
"Rika," Eriol called as he left. "I'd pay attention to what you write from now on."  
  
She nodded. "You needn't be afraid of this Eriol," Rika called after him.  
  
Eriol came back. "How did you know I was afraid?"  
  
"I...I don't know, it just came to me, that you were afraid of uncontrolled magic. or...or something like that," Rika stuttered.  
  
Eriol sighed. "You're right. I am. Do you know how dangerous uncontrolled magic can be?" Both Rika and Sakura shook their heads. "I've seen how it can destroy people, sometimes emotionally, sometimes physically." Now he looked at Sakura. "You're magic, was awakened when you opened the Clow book. Had you not opened it, your magic would have sprouted on its own and you probably would have known thing that you couldn't explain, and 'cuz you're so naturally helpful, you would have tried to warn people. You either would have been alienated or idolized. I can't say for certain which."  
  
"I thought you couldn't look into the future," Sakura accused.  
  
He shrugged. "I can't, really, I can only see bits and pieces, possibilites. And what you just heard, was a possibility. It could have been that you might have been able to keep your magic a secret. Or something like that. Possibilities remember?"  
  
"In my past life," he continued, "I've seen more dangerous magics consume their owner. The person becomes a slave to magic when the magic is supposed to be working for him." Eriol sighed, "I didn't mean to scare you like that, but I suppose...we don't know anything about the kind of magic you have, Rika. That shield you put up to block Concha and Sobek, back on that other planet. It kind of implies that you might have other more dangerous powers as well. And that you seem to know exactally how to comfort people. That might be empathy. And if it is, you've had it for a long, long time. Maybe your magic has something to do with emotions. I don't know. We can only guess right now."  
  
"So, I should stay away from you all?" Rika intoned.  
  
"No! That's the last thing we all want," Sakura exclaimed. "No matter what happenes, you'll always have the seven of us, and Tomoyo."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sobek was cursing loudly, and he was cursing everyone and everything in sight. Things were not going well, not going well at all. He had intended, no hoped that this would be easy. Defeating the Child of Dark. But she seemed to be more powerful that he had imagined. She had somehow appeared to Concha as Jadis. He cursed Jadis too. Driving her to kill herself. That was just too cruel.  
  
The servants notices that their master was crotchety. No, "crotchety" was an understatement. He was even worse than "crotchety." He was beyond "angry" and "outraged". One could practically see the flames coming from his ears and mouth he was so "crotchety."  
  
Sobek had never been a very pleasant, erm, man to get along with. He was always yelling and howling at the servants for being slow and incompetent, but now he was yelling at people who weren't present. Working for the self appointed Lord of Darkness had never been more interesting.  
  
As a general rule, the servant often knows more than the master simply because the servant is in a position to over hear many things. That however, was not the case this time. This time, all they could to was avert their large eyes whenever their master was on the rampage, and hope that they were not singled out from the crowd for some imagined misdeed and turned into a pile of ashes like the last servant unforutnate enough to cross Sobek.  
  
Sobek had no trusted servant or advisor to confide in, but then again, of course not, he purposely trusted no one because trusting lead to involvement and involvement meant self-endangerment. Unfortunately, he just broke his own rule and got involved with Concha.  
  
Concha. She was the reason he was so ittatable. Sobek knew that giving her strength and magic would connect them in some unknown manner, and that would cause him emotional suffering when she died. So he mourned her. But what he hadn't expected was to discover that he was still quite in love with Concha.  
  
The discovery of this emotion angered him at first. He was supposed to be the all-mighty, unfeeling leader! But as he though more and more about it, the more his anger became directed at Rika, the Child of Dark; the shadow of revenge brought a definite pall over his life and fulled his anger. He knew why she was called the Child of Dark now.  
  
Sobek was going to kidnap Rika at the next place she stopped at and use her power for his own motives. The bauble knew where their next stop was. In fact, it seemed to know a lot more after it had taken Concha. There would be time to wonder how later. Now, Sobek needed to plan his attack.  
  
On his way to his room, he bumped in to a small child. It was one of his youngest servants. The child, like all the other servants, had huge luminous eyes and helped him navigate his way about the dark castle. His large ears twitched when Sobek shifted. This little servant was different than the other some how; he looked and behaved exactally like the other little fuzz balls, but he was different. Sobek was about his fire at the child for crossing him, when the little servant convulsed and laughed a high pitched laugh, unnatural to his kind.  
  
"I have a secret," the child managed to gasp out between bouts laughter. "I have a secret that you want to know, Sobek."  
  
"How dare you address me by my name-" he raised his hand to strike when he was suddenly frozen in place. Then the child spoke, still laughing hysterically.  
  
"You will fail, Sobek, you _will_ fail!" and the voice faded. The child and Sobek both sunk to the ground. Sobek reached over for the child and picked him up by the fur on the back of his neck. He brought the unconcious servant close to his face and hissed. The little one slowly opened his eyes. Noting his proximity to Sobek, the child whimpered and tried to escape. Sobek wanted to ask the child or the child's parents whether anything strange had happened, but what was the use? They'd probably lie, thinking he was looking for an excuse to kill the child.  
  
Sobek hissed again and tossed the little servant aside carelessly. As soon as the little one scrambled away, his bauble came and nudged him. The bauble had never been able to do anything that required too much substance, like trying to push Sobek up, but that was exactaly what it was trying to do now. One of these days, he would have to find out what had happened to his pocket of darkness after it had taken in his beloved. One of these days - but for now, he had more pressing matters to attend to - the kidnapping of the Child of Dark.   
  
  
  
  
  
  



	14. Part 1: Snow, Dreams, and Green Fire

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any CCS characters, they belong to CLAMP or (very unfortunately) Nelvana, so don't sue me. **   
  
  
  
  


**Snow, Dreams, and Green Fire**

  
  
  
  
Syaoran threw a passing glance into the hallway, but stopped to stare at what he saw - Yue and Kero in huge parkas. "You two look absolutely ridiculous."  
  
"I wouldn't be laughing Syaoran," Nakuru admonished. "You'll be stuffed into one of these soon enough," was the ominous explination.  
  
"Yue....Kero!" he heard a voice call. "If you run away right now, you'll freeze later!" For a minute, he thought it was Sakura, then he thought it was Tomoyo, when he finally realized, it was Rika. Since when had she sounded like Sakura and Tomoyo?  
  
"Was that Syaoran? Nakuru, will you go get him?" Syaoran heard Rika calling out again in a muffled voice. Syaoran groaned and walked over to where Rika and Nakuru were. He poked his head into the room Yue and Kero had entered moments before.  
  
Rika gestured at Nakuru and at a pile of winter clothes. Nakuru explained what he needed to do, as Rika had a mouth full of pins to think about. "Find on that kind of fits you. It's better if it's a little bigger, so we can fix it more easily," Nakuru ended with a smirk on her face.  
  
"You're enjoying making us suffer aren't you?" Syaoran accused, walking over to the parkas. "What's all this for anyway?"  
  
"Number one: who wouldn't enjoy watching everyone sweating like pigs in those silly looking things? And number two: Rika said that the next place we're going is going to be rather cold....I'd listen if I were you."  
  
Syaoran mumbled a strangled sounding answer; he was drowning inside a fur coat two times too large for him. Nakuru pulled it off him and handed him another one. "As long as there's no hidden cameras anywhere in here..." Syaoran said, glancing around suspiciously. "I know Rika wouldn't do that, but you would."  
  
"Puh-lez, Syaoran. It gets less fun when everyone has to do it. I do, however, have **this**!" she cried, whipping out a camera and taking a picture of Syaoran in a ridiculous looking coat.  
  
"Acccckkkkk! YOU!!!"  
  
"Syaoran!!" Rika yelled. "Stand still. You know, you're the last one. If you don't stand still, I might "accidentally" prick you," she threatened.  
  
Syaoran sighed. After a little while, he decided to try to make conversation. "You know, Tomo-"  
  
"I know, I know," Rika sniffled a little. "Tomoyo used to make all the clothes you ever needed, and she had all your measurements memorized and everything. I know." Rika stopped, her head bent and her eyes sheilded by her bangs.  
  
"Are you crying? I shouldn't have said anything. Sorry. Is everything alright?"  
  
"Yes, I mean no." Rika moaned. "Every time you guys think of something that's sad, I get even sadder," she wailed, succumbing to a new wave of sobs. "I miss Tomoyo and Chiharu and Naoko and Takashi." Rika sniffed again. "And most of all I miss Yoshiyuki!" After a few more minutes of crying, she said, "I just want this whole thing to be over with!" and she accidently stabbed Syaoran with a pin. "Oops. I'm so sorry," Rika dropped all her pins and left.  
  
"You'd better stay there or else," Nakuru threatened before she ran after Rika. Syaoran sighed. He really hadn't meant to make her cry.  
  
_Sakura_, he called out with his mind. _Could you come and help me for a second?_  
  
Sakura came in the room and looked around. "Where's Rika?"  
  
"She had a small emotional break down. I don't think we should disturb her for a while."  
  
She immediately knew what Syaoran was asking her to do - finish what Rika had left behind. "Well, dear, you know I'm not good at sewing, but I'll do my best."  
  
Meanwhile, Rika had locked herself in her room, leaving a forlorn Nakuru outside, wondering if she would ever be let in. Soon, however, Rika came out of her own accord. "I'm sorry, Nakuru. I really didn't meant to do that. It was just, everyone was so sad..." her voice trailed off as she walked towards the direction of where she had left Syaoran. "I have to go apologize to him too."  
  
Nakuru followed behind Rika, wondering if her little friend were alright. She had not seen Rika so phased out since when they saw the tree and they started realizing what Rika might be able to do. In truth, Rika's state worried Nakuru a lot. According to Sakura, Rika had always been sensetive, but starting on this trip, she seemed to have gotten even more sensetive to everyone's feelings. Eriol called it empathy.  
  
Rika stopped abruptly outside the room without looking in. "Sakura's in there," she said to Nakuru, smiling contently, "Can't you just feel the love coming from the room?" She nudged Nakuru, "Go peek and see what they're doing," she smirked.  
  
Nakuru poked her head in and came back out giggling. "They're so cute together. Actually, they're talking they looked like they were about to kiss."   
Rika sighed, "Love is such a beautiful thing. I think we should bother them before they get out of hand."  
  
They knocked and stuck their heads in. "Cuuuuuuuuute," they both sighed at the same time. Sakura and Syaoran parted quickly. He cleared his throat.  
  
"Feeling better Rika?"  
  
"Oh yes. I wanted to apologize and I can finish the adjustments now."  
  
"We weren't sure how you were, so I finished it for you," Sakura admitted.  
  
"Wow, thanks Sakura. I guess that means we can rest until when ever we get there."  
  
"There _was_ one more thing actually. I think Eriol said we should all find out about what to expect when we get there," Sakura reminded Rika.  
  
"Snow. Lots and lots of snow." Rika flopped down on a pile of pillows and sighed. She had learned to control the things she thought about, but still, there were times when random bits of information would inturrupt her conversations or thoughts. Some times, she would "remember" information that she couldn't attatch to a place. Most of the time though, the information she did remember was "colored" so she could match the thought with the key, but some of the time, she'd remember things that didn't have a color attatched.  
  
It was then that Rika realized how soft the pillows were, how tired she was and how warm the room was. As she drifted off to sleep, forgetting where she was, an other-worldly voice called to her. Something she could see, yet not see beckoned to her, and brought her to a window. Rika looked out and saw a white landscape. There were little dots, like ants, moving below her. She tried to call out to ask to be shown who they were, but she was voiceless in her dream. Then came the green fire. It came and then left with one of the little dots. Rika screamed a voiceless scream, begging for someone to hear her, pleading with eyes to let her see what had happened.  
  
There was no one there though. Now she was all alone in a dark world. And like the day everything disappeared, she was glowing, but this time, she was glowing a briliant white. Beams of light shot through her toes and fingers and the ends of her hair. Opposite her...she couldn't see opposite her, but she could feel coldness, and the darkness, trying to take all her light. And as the dark crept closer and closer, she felt something terrible happening to her, but she couldn't name it. She was feeling the suffering of a hundred, no, a thousand people dying....  
  
Sakura and Syaoran watched Rika fall asleep and then left, so they wouldn't disturb her. She slept for hours peacefully. No one bothered her, no one tried to wake her up. Then Yue walked in. Not knowing that Rika was still sleeping, he had come to the room for a quite retreat from his yellow counterpart. He turned on the lights and his eyes scanned the room. There, in a pile of coushins, looking far smaller than she really was, Rika lay curled up in the fetal position. He moved closer, out of curiosity. There was blood on her lip and tears on her cheek.  
  
The sight bothered Yue. He wasn't sure what to do. If this was his mistress, he'd wake her up and ask what was wrong, but as of yet, he had not grown comfortable with his mistress' friend, Rika, and wasn't sure if waking her up and asking what was wrong would be acceptable. Yue shifted indecisively. Rika looked upset, but what was he to do? Part of him wanted to fetch Sakura, but the other half wondered if it would be better to wake her up first. He extended his hand slowly, as if to wake her, but it hovered in midair. What if waking her himself wasn't the right thing to do? Yue sighed. His hand moved to shake her shoulder.  
  
Rika whimpered a little and bit her already bleeding lip. Yue, noticing that she was hurting herself again, shook her harder. Rika opened her eyes slowly. She tasted the blood in her mouth and rolled her tongue around to see where the blood was coming from. She frowned a little, noting that she had bit herself on the inside of one of her cheeks and multiple times on her lip. Then she saw Yue standing over her, his expression fluttering between worry and indifference. Rika tried to smile, but couldn't. Somehow, this wasn't the time to smile.  
  
She pushed herself up with her left hand and winced in pain. She looked and saw that her hand was clenched tightly into a fist. Rika opened the fist slowly and cried out softly; in the palm of her hand were four purple/red cresent moons her nails had dug. She closed her open hand slightly and winced again in pain. "Yue, one of us..." Rika stopped. Seconds ago, her dream had been so clear, and at the forefront of her thoughts, but now...now it was like a fire smothered by a blanket; she knew there was something she should be remembering, but there simply wasn't anything to be remembered.  
  
"One of us-?" promted Yue.  
  
Rika blinked and looked up. "I can't...I can't remember. I can't remember."   
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Well, I guess it's a good thing we all sat through the fittings for these," Nakuru said, refering to the heavy winter garb they were all now wearing. They had ended up close to the edge of a forest. In one direction, all that was visible was a bleak snowscape. In another direction, the dark shadows of a forest.  
  
"I have never seen this much snow in my life," Eriol commented. The snow reached up to his knees when they first landed. Sakura started to use the Firey card to melt the snow when they realized that the snow was on top of several feet of ice, so she started over and used the Power card to compact the snow. They were going to go into the forest and search for a path which would lead them to the key they were looking for.  
  
"I'm pretty sure we can just go in a straight line," Rika said out loud to no one in particular. Ever since that day Yue had woken her up, she had seemed to be constantly preoccupied. In truth, she was trying to remember what she had dreamt about that had caused her so much pain in her sleep, but she couldn't. Try as she might, nothing worked.  
  
Syaoran looked around. Using his magic, he didn't sink into the snow, but stood on top of it. Rika was the only one who couldn't use magic to lift herself, but they had all decided to walk anyway. Syaoran and Yue were the only two who were not in the snow. They were both "top-side" acting as lookouts. Yue was flying above them, circling.  
  
A green flash of light streaked past Yue and Syaoran and towards Sakura and Rika. "Sobek," Sakura hissed.  
  
Rika stood paralyzed. She knew that one of them was going to be taken away. This was what her dream was about. This was what she was supposed to be worrying about. She wanted to shout out a warning. "He-" she started, but her voice disappeared. Rika was no longer in control of her own body. She was only watching through her eyes as someone else controlled her movements.  
  
Syaoran and Yue jumped in to help defend against Sobek. It was frightening to think that all of them were engaged in fighting one person, if you could even call Sobek a person. Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon went to Eriol. "No, Rika needs you all more than I do. Go help her," he ordered while manipulating the weather around Sobek's person.  
  
Syaoran was getting ready to unleash lightning while Yue and Nakuru shot crystals into the condensed storm now swirling around Sobek. While they couldn't see Sobek very clearly through the storm, they could watch the progress of Sobek's personal weather annomoly. At the same time, Sakura whispered to a card in her hand, "Illusion, distract Sobek by making him see what he wants."  
  
Sobek, however, wasn't so easily distracted. He slowly made his way through the storm to where he sensed Rika to be. The weather and the crystals and the lightning were blinding him, but he could rely on his reptilian side to find what he wanted. Spinel Sun and Kero were standing by Sakura and Rika, ready to fire at Sobek if they had to. "Wait," Rika said softly. "Kero, Suppi, back off. Sakura try the Illusion again."  
  
She did, but this time, Sobek saw his goal, the Child of Dark, moving farther away. He could see so clearly now for some reason. Now he was moving faster, Eriol intensified the storm and Syaoran kept using his lightning. Yue had switched to shooting arrows, while Nakuru kept using the crystals. None of these attacks though, seemed to hurt Sobek very much. He just kept moving while the lightning, arrows, and crystals all seemed to bounce off him.  
  
Frusterated, Sobek tried to run towards the Child of Dark. He could see so clearly where she was. He bumped into someone. The storm had now engulfed Rika and Sakura. Syaoran yelled for Yue and Nakuru to stop so they wouldn't hurt either. Sobek looked down and saw the Child of Dark. He grabbed her and disappeared in a flash of green light. She kicked and screamed, but he silenced her with a blow.  
  
Eriol let the storm die down. Nakuru's eyes widened, she couldn't breath, her hand flew to her mouth, clamping it shut, trying to hold in a scream; Syaoran let out a groan and he fell to the ground, his hands on his head and his body shaking; Yue froze, his mouth open, and slowly slumped to the earth; Eriol turned away, unable to hold back tears; Spinel sun and Kero transformed into their earthly forms their energy drained from them by shock.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sobek paced back and forth. He clearly had the Child of Dark. There was no way she wasn't it. He had gone and checked too many times for him to think she was anyone else. He had hit her, but only hard enough to keep her still, and yet she remained unconcious for hours, so he found a doctor. The doctor told him that she would wake up soon, so Sobek had her moved to his study. The servants placed her in a chair and using magic, Sobek bound her to the chair. Her breathing speed up and she shifted a little. She opened her eyes and looked down at her hands and feet, trying to move them.  
  
Sobek lounged back in his chair, his bauble floating precariously behind him. "You know, I've gone through a lot of trouble to bring you here," he paused. "Why don't you look at me when I speak to you?" he demanded.  
  
"What did you do with my friends?" she demanded, deliberately keeping her head lowered.  
  
"Your friends," he sneered, "are left to die. They'll drift from planet to planet, never finding what they want because now I have you." Sobek got up slowly and moved to her side. "Besides you're more valuable to me than you will ever be to them."  
  
He grabbed her face by her chin and forced her to look at him. Sobek saw everything differently now. This was not the Child of Dark. The Child of Dark did not have green eyes.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The quest to bring back their world has brought them all closer together. The mutual sense of loss sealed their friendship. The hope that was still burning, burning, but ever dimmer. Always ever shrinking.   
  
_

"Please, please. No matter how bad things get, how different I become. Please, remind me of the past. Please, remind me. Maybe....maybe it won't get that bad, but you have to promise me...please don't let me forget. Help me change who I'm becoming."  


_   
  
  
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END OF PART 1

**   
  
  



	15. Part 2: A new beginning

  
**DISCLAIMER: Honestly. I don't own ccs...meaning I don't own the characters...I do however, own the plot, so don't copy!**   
a/n: with the beginnning of the second part of this story, I'd like to say some thank yous again. To the many people from Clowsage I sent this chapter to, sorry, it was so long ago I can't remember names. To lil'washu/spida/Yue98 and Miro for saying you loved this story and repeatedly assuring me that this chapter and the ones before and after it made perfect sense because as much as _I_ love and understand this story, I really want everyone else's opinion too. Joanni again because like I said in chapter 1, if I'd never talked to you, I'd never had gotten this story out. I'll stop quacking at you now. Go and read. Don't forget to review after you're done.   
  
  
  


**A new beginning**

  
  
  
  
  
_

"Our final hope  
Is flat dispair."  
  
--1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost--

_  
  
  
  
_bum.  
  
bum.  
  
bum.  
  
bum........bum.....bum...bum..bumbumBumBUMBUMBUMBUMBUMBUMBUM_  
  
Her eyes snapped open. "Yoshiyuki!" she cried out mournfully. There was a pounding in her head that was comforting yet painful to listen to; it was comforting to know that she was alive, but the pain that it caused was beyond belief. When she slowly started to remember what had happened, the beating in her head had grown faster and louder, startling her out of her semi-comatose state.  
  
She looked around. What had she remembered? Oh yes, that she wasn't home. But besides that, something was missing. Something was wrong. What though? Rika sat up and sharply drew in her breath, the sudden unblance of the blood in her body made her head hurt even worse. A little more alert, she looked around again, scrutinizing everything, why couldn't she remember where she was?  
  
What's the last thing you can remember clearly, Rika? she asked herself. Her mind settled on a worried image of Yoshiyuki Tereda, the man she intended on spending the rest of her life with. Why was he so worried? Oh, that's right, because she was getting dizzy. Then what happened? There were glowing figures in the distance. Sakura, Syaoran, Eriol...who were the other four? Yue...Kero...Nakuru...and Suppi? Yes, that was it. Then what happened?  
  
Rika tilted her head a little, thinking. She couldn't understand why she couldn't remember anything. Sifting through a jumble of faces in her memory, she tried to find one she could put a name too. Rowan! There was a name she was able to match to a face. She had told them something....something....why was everything so dark? She had told them something about why everything was so dark.  
  
Unbidden, symbols and colors flashed through her mind: pink, green, blue, a flower, a star, a scroll, a serpent, tan, red, fire, yellow, a shield, and a scroll. Then words started matching up with the colors. The pink flower meant love, the green serpent meant power, the blue shield was justice, the tan scroll was knowledge, the red fire was hate, and the yellow star. The yellow star was hope!  
  
In her room, Rika's eyes settled on a little box with the very symbols she had been thinking of. Her hand flew to her neck, feeling for a chain. She pulled out the chain and pendant from underneather her shirt. In her head, she could hear a voice reciting prose: "When reality is shattered what can you do? When truths become lies can you still hang on? When you are desparately searching the answers evade you. But your world is gone. Reality is an illusion."  
  
She knew what the voice was going to say next and in a ragged voice, finished what was to be said, "Life is a journey...searching...for...the ...k-keys." The images and thoughts placed themselved more rapidly now. Everything was clear, what had happened, what was going to happen. Then she knew why she couldn't remember and let out a scream that wanted to stop time, to turn back the clock and change what had happened. The scream died into sobs and hysteria, and Rika climbed out of bed and landed on shaking legs. She held on to a bed post, unable to move forward, but unwilling to fall back.  
  
Eriol and Nakuru and a haggard looking Syaoran rushed in. "Oh God, oh God, oh God. It's my fault. It's all my fault," they heard Rika mutter almost incoherently. With one arm around her waist, Nakuru gently pried Rika's fingers away from the bed post. Rika tried to push her away, but she had neither the strength nor sufficient control over her limbs to do so. All the while, the words tumbled out of her mouth and tangled her tongue, "It's my fault. Oh God, it's my fault."  
  
Eriol put his hand over her mouth to silence her after seeing that verbal coersion didn't work. With his other hand, he wiped away the tears and cleared away the hair that had stuck to her wet cheeks. "It's nobody's fault," he whispered to her, shaking his head in emphasis.  
  
Syaoran sat down at the foot of the bed and took one of her hands, placing it on top of a card. "Look, Rika, the Sakura Cards. They're still warm. She's still alive. We'll get her back yet."  
  
After hearing that, Rika seemed to calm down. Eriol removed his hand. "They're still warm, she's still...alive?" she repeated.  
  
Syaoran nodded slowly and almost hesitantly, and handed the two cards in his hand to her. Rika held them with her trembling hands. "Love and Illusion," she read. "How did love get left behind?" she queried innocently.  
  
"How did illusion get left behind?" Nakuru countered.  
  
But Rika wasn't listening. She drifted off to sleep, whispering to herself, "how did love get left behind?"  
  
Listening to her breathing, Nakuru sighed, "She's asleep."  
  
"Syaoran, you little liar. You don't know that for sure," Eriol accused.  
  
"No. I don't know that for sure, but when I was like that," he nodded his head towards Rika. "I remembered something Sakura said when she was in the middle of transforming the cards. They were cold when they were Clow cards, but after they turned into Sakura cards, they grew warm again. They were alive. These cards. They're telling me that Sakura's still alive."  
  
"Is this something you came up with on the spot?" Eriol asked, scrutinizing Syaoran carefully.  
  
"No, I believe it starting when I could think in coherent sentences again. It's like grabbing at straws, but I have to hope don't I?" As he said the last part, his voice cracked with emotion.  
  
"You'd better tell Yue to change into Yue again. Rika's going to get better soon," Nakuru reminded Syaoran, who nodded.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A few minutes after Sobek had disappeared in his green fire with Sakura, two Sakura cards appeared in a flash of light. The Illusion and Love cards. Syaoran had rushed over to the two, grabbed them before they even reached the ground; they were all he had of Sakura now. He had been standing right next to Rika, so he checked for a pulse. "She's still alive. Rika's still alive," he remembered calling out, and then his memory stopped.  
  
Eriol told him that he had collapsed and for the next two weeks had alternated between conciousness and unconciousness. Whenever he was away, he would be trying to leave or sitting up, talking to himself or to the Sakura Cards. Syaoran remembered none of this, but Eriol and Nakuru assured him that it was all true. Yue had helped tend to Syaoran as well. Kero had reportedly locked himself in Sakura's room. Spinel Sun was sent to keep an eye on Keroberos, but Kero had not let the dark little guardian in, so Suppi had blown out the door to Sakura's room, all to make sure his yellow friend didn't do anything stupid to himself.  
  
So where were Yue, Suppi, and Kero during Rika's out burst? After Syaoran started to get better, Yue's grief incapacitated him, so he changed into Yukito again in order to have something else to think about. Kero, after much coaxing, had finally come out of "seclusion" and had been sleeping on and off for the last two days. Eriol had told Suppi, that if for some reason, he or Nakuru wasn't around Kero and Yue/Yukito, he was to stay behind.  
  
Of course, no one knew anything about Sakura. She had been kidnapped by the vengeful Sobek. Syaoran and Nakuru speculated that he had really wanted Rika. Eriol kept his opinion to himself.  
  
Over the next two weeks, Rika slowly became more and more concious. Nakuru was constantly at her side and forbade the topic of Sakura or anything surrounding Sakura or Sobek. So their conversations always were about home and particularly Yoshiyuki Tereda.  
  
When Rika was finally allowed to be by herself again, she was changed. She still had the same sunny exterior, the same warm personality, the same soft smile, and the same gentle movements, but at the same time, she was different, inside and outside. There was a hint of steel in her gaze. If she was cross or irritated with anyone, it would show: she would purse her lips and her brown eyes became hard and jaded. She walked with more self-determination.  
  
She wanted everything to be over. She desperately wanted her life back: Yoshiyuki, Sakura, Tomoyo, Chiharu...everyone. But to get that, she needed to get the remaining four keys, so the determination in her step and the steeliness in her eyes were for a good reason. As Nakuru whispered to Suppi though, "the new Rika Sasaki takes a little getting used to, neh Suppi?"  
  
"So, the Illusion and Love cards were what were left?" Rika asked Syaoran when they were all at the dinner table, except for Yue, who was Yue again, and off to the side, watching the conversation.  
  
Syaoran nodded. "I kind of understand why Love was left behind, but Illusion?"  
  
"Illusion..." Rika swallowed, and picked at her food. "That was the card Sakura was using...that was the reason Sobek has Sakura...and it's-"  
  
Eriol cleared his throat loudly and looked pointedly at Rika. They had agreed that no one was to blame for Sakura's kidnapping, but every once in a while, some one would forget.  
  
"Illusion was the card that Sakura was using to try and get Sobek to leave," Rika said again.  
  
"Then the illusion must have worked on Sobek..." Syaoran trailed off.  
  
They fell into silence again. Nakuru started to say something, but Rika cut her off. "I want to get this done and over with as quickly as possible."  
  
"The keys you mean, Rika?" Nakuru asked.  
  
"The sooner we get this over with, the sooner everything goes back to normal," Kero agreed.  
  
"I notice we're still parked on this God forsaken planet of snow, so let's get this place done and over with. How long have we been here anyway?" Rika asked.  
  
"Four weeks, almost five," Eriol answered a little too quickly. He was tired too, but in a differnt way than everyone else.  
  
Rika's eyes flashed, not with anger, but with a firm resolve. "We've been here far too long. Tomorrow. I'll go get the key and we'll leave to where ever we're supposed to go next."  
  
"You are _not_ going alone," Suppi interjected, "I'm coming too."  
  
"Me three," Nakuru chimed in.  
  
Syaoran fiddled with his napkin. "I'm coming too," he said with resolve.  
  
"If the kid goes, Yue and I are going too," Kero spoke up. To Syaoran, he said, "If anything happens to you, Sakura will soooo snatch out the beautiful fuzz at the end of my tail."  
  
"Indeed, Sakura will be most displeased if anything were to happen to you before she returned," Yue added.  
  
"Well, since everyone's going, I can't not go, now can I?" Eriol asked with a little smile that was more reminicent of his old self. "I guess we're all going then,"  
  
Rika smiled a genuine smile. Eriol had said to her once in the beginning that this journey was going to change them all. He was right. This odd assortment of people, was her family now. They were her people, and it was up to her to bring them home. If she wasn't able to, then...then...she didn't want to think about a "then", so pushing the thought out of her mind, she joined in the genuinely lively conversation on snow Nakuru had started without her.  
  
  
  
  
  
a/n: Well? What did you think? I'm rather pleased with the way this turned out. Did you like the quote at the beginning? You don't understand how the quote fits in with the rest of the story do you...well, it does...you just have to keep reading to find out ^^ Really, it does. I'm surprised I even found a quote that fit....ANYWHO!! see that blue bar down there? It wants pushing. Please review.   



	16. Part 2: Sobek and the Bauble

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any ccs characters, they belong to CLAMP and Nelvana...I wish I owned Syaoran, or Eriol, or Touya, or Yue *sigh* but I don't ;_;**  
  
  
**Cat**- Thank you for reviewing my story. You must come and check often to know when I update or something. Amazing. I really appreciate it.  
  
**Kirjava-chan**- Actually, keep the quote in mind while your reading the rest of part two...and actually most of part three, probably. I haven't gotten that far yet. I think if you keep the quote in mind and ....well...you'll see. Just don't forget it. ^_^  
  
And I forget if it was Aerin or Kirjava, one of you was asking about the bauble a while ago. Um. I was going to put parts two and three into their own stories, so it'd be three different stories, but then I realized that was kinda against the rules. Let me just say that had I posted part 2 as its own story, it would have been named The Bauble's Choice.   
  
  
  
  
  


**Sobek and the Bauble**

  
  
  
  
  
Sobek paced back and forth. Legends, facts, and suspicions crowded his mind. When he was little, he heard storied about "Light-born" people. People who had magic. "Are we Light-born too, Mother?" he had asked.  
  
He remembered clearly that his mother's face clouded, "No, we're not Light-born."  
  
"Then why do we have magic?"  
  
His mother had walked to a window and looked out. "The people in out part of the universe aren't 'blessed with light,'" she had replied. Sobek didn't understand her answer then. Later, he realized that the phrase "blessed by the light" or "blessed with light" were ways the Light-born described themselves. He also found out why his mother was always so bitter about the Light-born.  
  
She was one of them. Years before, his mother, who's name he never knew, had been one of the brightest of the Light-born. She had fallen in love with a shape-shifter and given him a son, Sobek. But because the child was born out of wed-lock and because he was what he looked like, her father, his grandfather, banished her from their planet. The shape-shifter put her on another planet where he promised she would be well cared for.   
  
Sobek never knew his father either. His mother's father had banished her, but had not taken away her magic; his father had not been Light-born, but he had magic; something the Light-born called Shadow people. His mother had used her power to drive his father away and as far as Sobek knew, he had never come back.  
  
All that happened hundreds of years ago. Since then, the Light-born had slowly disappeared, as did the Shadow people. Light-born and Shadow people still existed, but more spread out and in fewer numbers than before.  
  
Sobek's mother, had taught his the legends and prophesies of the Light-born as well as the Shadow people. The Light-born saw the Shadow people as bearers of evil. Their legends and prophesies spoke of a time when a Child of the Light would battle a Child of the Dark. The legends of the Shadow people said the same thing. Sobek, curious to see how true the prophesies were, studied the signs and omens.  
  
Light and Dark had battled several times already, but the vessels the powers chose were too weak and were always destroyed before anything important could happen. Sobek wished he could be the Child of Dark. He knew he could handle the power. He knew it.  
  
But now there was something else to complicate things. The girl, Rika Sasaki. She could be either the Child of Light or a Child of Dark. Born on a planet not claimed by either, but with more Light and Dark, she could easily be the Child of Light. But the Dark also saw her as a suitable vessel. If she was in his hands, he could help the Dark win her, but right now, he only had her friend, a certain Sakura Kinomoto.  
  
Sobek was desparately tempted to kill her, except everytime he tried, he couldn't. Something was stoping from killing the little girl in his possession. It could be that this little girl still had many things to do. Sobek had gotten tantilizingly close to killing her once. He had ordered a servant to kill her, but at the last minute, the servant died. The same thing happened with everyone he sent. Then he had tried himself. He was so close. But he ended up hurting himself instead. Something was deffinately protecting the girl.  
  
He had a dream one night that told him he was forbidden to kill her. "Why?" he had asked. But the dream had said nothing that alluded to why. The unknown always drove Sobek a little crazy.  
  
Since he couldn't kill her, his decent side had taken some control and had given her a room so she would at least be comfortable.  
  
Sometimes though, he really wondered why he even bothered being decent to his prisoners. Especially the ones that didn't seem to want it.  
  
"Stop thinking about this," he ordered himself out loud. He had another way he could use Sakura Kinomoto to his advantage. She wasn't exactally the Child of Dark, but she was close enough so that he could hurt the one who had killed his beloved.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sakura sat looking out the window in a room given to her by her captor.  
  
A month ago, when Sobek saw that she wasn't Rika, Sakura heard his howls of rage echoing through the halls of his home. She always thought of this place as a castle, but it was more along the lines of a really big house made out of stone. She had sat along in a dark little cell waiting for nothing.  
  
The servants had surprised and scared her at first. The furry little creatures with large eyes perfect for the dark "castle," but they were very nice to her. She had looked forward to their visits to bring her food. They had even warned her that their master was wanting to kill her. That had made Sakura more nervous, but at least she was on the look out.  
  
Then one day, Sobek came. "I'm not allowed to kill you," he said, irritated and tired. Sakura looked away. His appearance was disturbing. "Since I can't kill you, you might as well, leave-" Sakura's heart had fluttered when he paused. She thought he was going to let her leave, but after the short pause, he had continued, "-this cell...You'll get a room, but you are forbidden to leave it for any reason."  
  
So there she was. Incredibly bored. Incredibly heart sore. Incredibly tired. Sakura had befriended the servant who brought her food and had learned from her that Sobek drugged the food she recieved. Sakura wished she could use the Sakura cards to get her out, but she had no idea where she was, so even if she did get out, chances were that she would starve before finding Syaoran or anyone else.  
  
"Syaoran," she sighed. "I hope you know that I'm alright." Sakura looked at the card in her hand. It was the hope. Soon after she had been given a room, Sakura counted the cards. She was missing two. Illusion and Love. "I hope you have the cards, Syaoran. I hope you know that the cards are trying to tell you I'm alright."  
  
The Mirror card appeared. One of the cards would often appear and talk or comfort Sakura. She suspected that this was their way of showing sorrow. Out of all the cards, Sakura felt like the Mirror understood her the best. "After all," Tomoyo had once said, "The Mirror card does seem to like Touya, she would understand what it's like to not be close to someone you love, or like a lot in Mirror's case."  
  
"Mistress," the Mirror card lowered her head a little, to show her respect.  
  
"Can you feel my sadness? Can the cards feel what I'm feeling?" Sakura asked out of curiosity. The last two cards to come out had been dash and jump. They couldn't talk. Then before that, the twin card had come out and tried to cheer her up by replicating everything in the room. She had used to Erase card to clean up the mess. Their efforts cheered her up, but Sakura wanted something different. She wanted to be with Syaoran. In her mind, she let out a long, agonized moan, "Syaoran," she tried to call across the distance. "I miss you, I love you!"  
  
Mirror looked away. "Yes...We're sad too."  
  
Sakura nodded and continued to look out the window. The Mirror sighed. While her back was turned, the Rain card had appeared and crept close to Sakura. "Is little Sakura still sad?" the Rain card called everything "little."  
  
Sakura smiled down at the adorable incarnation of "rain." "A little," she replied as she turned her attention back to what was outside the window.  
  
The little Rain card's eyes teared up. "If little Sakura's sad, then I'm sad toooooooooooooo!" as it sat down and proceded to wail.  
  
"Oh, no," the Mirror cried out. "If you cry, you'll end up flooding everything!" she scolded.  
  
"A...flood?" Sakura repeated, not noticing that the remark was directed at the bawling Rain card. "Be good, Rain. Go back into the card. There's....something..." Sakura trailed off frowning outside the window.  
  
"There's....something...?" Mirror repeated.  
  
"Yes. Rain. Go back into your card, please. There's something out...side..." Sakura looked outside again. When she turned around, the Rain had obediently turned back into a Sakura card. Sakura beckoned to the Mirror card and pointed outside. "Don't stick your head out too far, but do you see that thing? Down there? That's kinda hovering?"  
  
The Mirror nodded. "What is it?"  
  
Sakura ignored the quesiton. "It's been like that all day for the last week. But it's not always there. I don't really like it. I want to know what it is."  
  
Sakura turned around and put her hand on the pile of Sakura cards, wondering which one to use. She drew out the Wood card. "Wood," she whispered, after taking out her staff. "I want that's black thing that's hovering under my window. Trap it, and bring it back. Release and Dispell."  
  
The Wood card went out the window and soon returned with a little ball of wood. "It's in there," she said. "It can't move in a straight line very well...it sort of wobbles," she informed Sakura.  
  
"It wobbles?" Sakura repeated. "What is it?" she asked more to herself than anyone else.  
  
"It's a little black bubble of something. It floats, and it doesn't feel very good," Wood informed her.  
  
"It doesn't feel good?" Sakura was confused.  
  
"It doesn't feel good." Wood repeated firmly. She squirmed a little.  
  
Sakura nodded. "I won't make it stay in there long," she assured the Wood. "Loosen up a bit on it, so I can see what it is."  
  
The thing the Wood had caught stayed in the shadows though. Sakura thought for a minute. "Mirror, can you show me what it is?"  
  
"If I see it, but even I can't see it," she replied.  
  
"The thing doesn't move very fast, did you say?" Sakura asked. Wood nodded. "Then if you let it go really fast, just so Mirror can see it, and then capture it again, could you do that?"  
  
Again she nodded and did exactally what Sakura said. The Mirror also turned into a little black floating bubble, reflecting what she saw.  
  
"Where have I seen that before?" Sakura muttered to herself. "It wobbles...it can't move in a straight line....Mirror, move around, but not in a straight line, kinda wobble all over the place."  
  
Sakura stared at the black bubble. She looked at the wood's cage for the bubble and then back at the Mirror's projection. She licked her lips, trying to think, but try as she might, she could not remember where she had seen the thing. "Ok, Wood, you can let it go, outside again," Sakura sighed in resignation. The two cards turned back into cards, leaving Sakura with her thoughts.  
  
Here was a mystery to take her mind off her depression. Where had she seen the black bubble before? Why was it always under her window? And what was it?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It simply woke up one day. It didn't know where or what it was, it just knew its purpose. It was able to speak the language of the humans, but prefered to stay silent and watch. It was drawn to one particular being, one called Sobek. It had been following Sobek since before it had an awareness. Sobek called it the "bauble," so it assumed that was its name. Bauble.  
  
To the bauble, there was no past, present, or future. Only now. It was guided by impules that did not originate within itself. It's instincts were from another entity it had never meet before. Everything the bauble did was planned, but the bauble didn't know that. All it knew was that the ultimate goal was to find the Child of Dark.  
  
Sobek had caught another human. He had insisted that she was the Child of Dark, but the bauble knew other wise. The human in Sobek's holdings was so infused with light that it hurt to look at her. The bauble also knew that Sobek was not allowed to kill the human. A condition that was set because Light and Dark sensed that the Time was near. The Time when Light and Dark would battle for the Universe.  
  
The bauble had no feelings about this. It was an instrument, an apendage that the Dark found valuable. The bauble simply did what ever it was told. End of story.  
  
Its "instincts" told it that at one point, Sobek was thought to be the Child of Dark. But he had softened. He had changed and there was another in the Universe that the Dark would prefer as a vessel, but she had been slowly infused with Light. The Dark could still take over her though, slowly and carefully. If it ever found her.  
  
_If_ it ever found her.  
  
  
  
  
  



	17. Part 2: My dearest Elianatha

  
**DISCLAIMER: *ahem* you've heard this (I mean read this) a gazillion times, but you're going to read it again. As much as I'd like to, I don't own the ccs characters...they belong to Nelvana and CLAMP. :) or wait, shouldn't it be :( ? I give up. I don't own them.**   
  
  
  
  


**My dearest Elianatha**

  
  
  
  
Eriol trammpled through the snow with everyone else. He had heard Nakuru and Suppi talking between themselves about how Rika had changed. Yes, she had changed, but only in matters regarding home. When she forgot where she was, when she forgot about the keys she needed to find, she was still the old Rika Sasaki. Syaoran too, had seemed to change, but Eriol had seen this Syaoran before, not in person, but he knew that Syaoran had only reverted back to his old self - who he was before Sakura.  
  
It was cold. He couldn't properly concentrate on his thoughts, but he had repeated his question so many times, that he could think about it without thinking about it: "how have I changed?"  
  
He too had lost a loved one. In fact, in a sense, he had lost more people than all of them, but he knew that as long as they protected Rika, as long as Rika was around to find the keys, he would get everyone back, except for Sakura. They knew who had Sakura, but that was it. She was lost.  
  
Syaoran was more connected to Sakura than any of them. He could speak mind-to-mind with her, he was going to marry her. Eriol would have wondered what happened to the real Syaoran if Syaoran hadn't been depressed.  
  
Rika was Sakura's friend. She was everybody's friend. She felt responsible for every single person in their little group. It was her job to bring them all home. She too, had a right to be depressed over Sakura's kidnapping.  
  
What about himself, though? What about Eriol? He had always thought of Sakura as a daughter. That was just the way his mind worked. How come he didn't go insane with grief after she was kidnapped? True, when he thought of Sakura, his heart would ache and he would start blaming himself, but how come he had been able to hide all that?  
  
In his mind, he had analyzed everything that had happened. It occured to him that they _were_ all trying as hard as they could to help Sakura and Rika, so it was pure dumb luck that Sobek had even gotten one of them. But still, Eriol could think that he wasn't trying hard enough to help his other half's daughter.  
  
He smiled wryly, a smile that showed up as a grimace because of the cold and wind. How ironic, he thought, that I should be the one to forbid self blame, yet I kick myself a dozen times or more a day over Sakura's kidnapping. Eriol bumped into Kero. He hadn't noticed that they'd stopped.  
  
"It's in there," Rika motioned to a small shack. "Amazing it's even survived here, huh?" she joked.  
  
"I'm half afraid to go in," Kero intoned.  
  
"Then stay outside, Keroberos," Nakuru said, "I'm going in." And she promptly walked into the wooden hut.  
  
"Hey wait for me," Rika called after her.  
  
"It's smaller on the inside than it looks," Nakuru called out cheerfully. "Don't any of you start rushing in here!"  
  
Eriol traded looks with Spinel Sun. Even in the grimest situation, Nakuru some how was able to retain her hyperactive cheerfulness and not offend anyone with it. "How does she do that?" Syaoran asked to no one in particular.  
  
"Who? Ruby Moon?" Yue replied.  
  
Syaoran nodded, and looked at Eriol. "Hey, even _I_ don't understand, Syaoran," he said. "She just is."  
  
Before anyone could say anything else though, Rika and Nakuru tramped out. "Ok, we found it. Let's go back. It's freezing here," Rika called out, her voice slightly muffled by the wind.  
  
"Um...are you sure it's in there?" Kero asked, eyeing the medium sized box Nakuru was holding.  
  
Nakuru chuckled. "Yes, Kero. We checked it."  
  
"So then, the box is for..." Suppi prompted.  
  
"There's something written on the inside. I want to read it," Rika explained in a no-nonsense tone. "It's way to cold here to do anything, so let's go back."  
  
The trek back was not as bitter as the going. Now they had three keys in their possession. Three more to go. Rika tried not to think about the Key of Hope. The key that she didn't know where to find.  
  
Everyone eagerly crowded around Rika to see if the key was indeed the right one. She opened the little box with her key and put the key in. The blue shield symbolizing justice lit up, along with the green serpant and the pink flower. The pictograms for the three keys they had collected so far. Nakuru, Suppi, and Kero let out a cheer. Syaoran smiled for the first time in a long time. Rika's eyes hardened. "Let's get out of here," she said.  
  
Later, when they were safely in space, she remebered the box she had brought back from the planet. She had wanted to read the writing in the box, or at least, try to read the writing. She accidentally dropped it and it fell open. The lining inside the box fell out, revealing a small packet of papers. Sitting on the floor, she picked up the box.  
  
_Damn_ the passage started. An odd way of starting, but then again, she didn't know what kind of writing this was going to be. _Damn_ she read again. She skimmed through the entire paragraph, noting that the carving got fainter at the end.  
  
  
_Damn. I'm out of paper. I'll just have to write on this box. Maybe you'll come again before I die, maybe you won't. Just know that I waited for you for the rest of my life, Elianatha. It's very cold here. It's gotten even colder since I returned, but I've said that before many times. It's very cold._  
  
  
Rika looked up and blinked. "What?" she mused outloud and picked up the packet of papers.  
  
She looked down at them, trying to concentrate on the pictograms. She found though, that whenever she tried to concentrate on it, she couldn't read. She had to let the language flow into her and simply sit and absorb. It hurt her head to think about how exactally this worked, but it did. Taking a deep breath, Rika gazed at the page and let the words read themselves to her.  
  
  
_Elianatha-  
  
I met the most curious man today. You would have liked to meet him. I don't know where he came from, because he didn't look anything like anyone from here. You always did like to welcome strangers. I remember that well. He took me somewhere, and gave me a little disk. It was a small stone that had a blue picture carved on one side and the word for justice on the other. You know what I said to him? I told him he was a fool. "There's no such thing as justice. If there was, I'd be able to hunt down the raiders that took my Elianatha away from me," I told him. Then he looked at me funnily. "Don't you know?" he said. "She will come back. Someday she will come back."  
  
He said he didn't know when you were coming back, but he was sure that you would. I'm supposed to give this stone to you when you do come back. He said you would need it. I don't understand why you would need it. We said once that all we needed was each other.  
  
  
Elianatha-  
  
Did you know, that when I got home again, twenty years had passed? I don't understand. People thought I had died, but I didn't. They touched me and pinched me to make sure I was real. I'm waiting for you. It seems so cold here now. I hadn't noticed it before, but it's gotten colder here in the years since I disappeared. I'm not used to the weather. I made a box. Out of your favorite kind of wood to keep the stone in. There are so many people in the town now. I moved away from where we used to live. I'm in the hills behind the town now. I miss the days when the town was just a small village.  
  
  
Elianatha-  
  
Part of me doesn't understand why I'm even writing this to you. I think I want to give these to you when I see you again. I want to show you that I was thinking of you everyday. Elianatha, I miss you so much. I'm putting this away now. I think of you so much, wondering what I can write to you, that I've neglected preparing for the coming winter. The first snow will come in two months, but it is already getting colder.  
  
  
Elianatha-  
  
Maybe I should stop writing your name, but I love to write it. It all I have left of you, besides your memory. I looked back on what I wrote years ago. The writing is faded compared to the words I pen now. There are less people in the town now. It's shrinking, dying. Soon, it will be just like the village I left behind so many years ago. It just occured to me that it was today, forty years ago that you died. Have you been born again yet? I wonder. It preoccupies my days sometimes. I wonder if when we meet again you will look the same. Or will you be more beautiful? You can only be more beautiful is what I decide each time.  
  
  
Elianatha-  
  
The years have left me behind.  
  
I meet a child today. A little boy. He looked just like a child we would have had if you had lived. Do you know what he said to me, Elianatha? He told me I was older than old. "How do you know who I am?" I asked. The little boy smiled, and said in the candid way of youth, "Oh, everyone knows who you are. My grandfather was just a little boy when you came back after disappearing for twenty years. How do you do it? How do you live longer than everyone else?" I laughed and replied. "Don't think about time, boy, and time will forget you." That was a joke. But I truly do wonder how I've managed to still be alive. The thought that I've lived two life times, though, encourages me. Maybe I will be able to encounter you again.  
  
  
Elianatha-  
  
I'm running out of space. The village is just a collection of huts now. It's even smaller than when we were children. No one makes paper anymore. There's no time for pleasure. Only survival. The winters have only gotten progressively colder. I think about staying warm almost as much as I remember you. It's colder than you could possibly have imagined. For the first time in my unnaturally long life, I feel old. I might not be able to see you again in this life, my love, but know that I tried to live as long as possible...  
_   
  
And that was where the paper ended. Rika went back and read what was carved onto the box again. It was safe to assume that the poor man, who's name he had not written down, had frozen to death. She blinked, and a few tears rolled down her cheek. She banished them with the back of her hand and took a deep breath again.  
  
While reading the man's journal, or diary, or account, she could feel the love pouring off the page and into her heart. The love softened her heart and made her think of her own "lost" love. "Eriol and Syaoran might like to read this too," she said to herself, and she sat down at her desk and translated the account into Japanese.  
  
While translating, she concentrated on the first entry. Rika knew that the man who gave the stone to the writer had to have been the same one who created Rowan. Mr. Darwin, Rika remembered bitterly. It was because of Darwin Schweed that they had ended up where they were now, but she couldn't curse his descendants since that would mean cursing Eriol, Syaoran, Sakura and all of their relatives.  
  
It also occured to her that the Elianatha lady the man wrote his journal too was a previous form of her. Rika had never believed in reincarnation, but now was as good a time as ever to start beliving. Who had she been in previous lives? So far, she had been Jadis, according to Concha, and Elianatha, according to this man. And then Innana had started off calling her Tiriki, but that was just a title. Yes, Rika was now a firm believer in reincarnation. But what about fate? Was she always fated to end up with Yoshiyuki?  
  
Rika paused in her translation. _Was_ she predestined to love Yoshi? Maybe. Elianatha was in love with this man; Jadis...who was Jadis in love with? "Why am I thinking this way?" Rika asked herself outloud. "I'm thinking this way because I need hope that I'll see you again, Yoshiyuki. I'm thinking this way because I don't know if I'll ever kiss you or hug you again. I'm thinking this way because I know where the Hate and Knowledge are, but not Hope." Rika laughed ironically. "I don't know where hope is and I'm loosing hope."  
  
Rika hugged herself and forbade the tears from slipping out from under her lashes. "I can't think like that. I will find out where Hope is. I will. I swear, I'll find it and go home," she resolved, returning to her translation.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Eriol had overheard Rika's conversation with herself while he was walking past the room she shared with Nakuru. "I'm thinking this way because I don't know if I'll ever kiss you or hug you again," she had said. This was exactally the way he missed Tomoyo, but he hadn't been able to but it in words. Undoubtably, this was how Syaoran was feeling about Sakura. Rika's sentence had put his dispair in view. He understood now what had been elluding him all along. He had thought that Rika knew were had the keys were. Conciously, he thought he remembered her knowing, but she didn't know, and he had remembered that, or rather, his subconcious had remembered it.  
  
"Oh Lord," he muttered to himself. What was happening to his world?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
a/n: what is happening to Eriol? 


	18. Part 2: saKUra and SAkuRA

  
**DISCLAIMER: Maybe I should think of something creative to do for a disclaimer....but for now, you'll just have to deal with "I don't own any ccs characters. They all belong to CLAMP, Nelvana....and who ever else. So don't sue me 'cuz I'm poor!"**   
  
  
  
  


**saKUra and SAkuRA**

  
  
  
  
"It's the leader of a country, Diaten's the name of the capital, we're after this time. It's a guy. He has the key of Hate." Once again, Rika was briefing them all on their new environment.  
  
"That's ominous sounding," Syaoran commented.  
  
"Isn't it? But the place is supposed to be really nice," Rika responded.  
  
"Warm?"  
  
"If I have to 'save' Ruby Moon-" Yue left off on the threatening note.  
  
"It'll be warm, but not like Ishtar. It's supposed to be perfect. I guess that means weather we're used to," Rika said, a little of her old self shining true. "You needn't worry about saving Nakuru, Yue."  
  
"Which really is too bad, Yue daaaaaahling," Nakuru rolled word off her tongue like candy. Yue snorted and glared at Ruby Moon.  
  
"We get there in a few days right?" Eriol asked, ignoring their antics.  
  
Rika nodded. "Two more keys after this one and then we're done." A flash of uncertainty flickered on her expression, but Eriol was the only one who noticed.  
  
He had been watching her recently. He had to admit. Rika did an admirable job on hiding what was going on and keeping everyone's spirits up. Eriol tried to be as cheerful as everyone else at the prospect of only two keys left, but he couldn't find it in him to even plaster a smile on his face. Syaoran was so sure he'd get Sakura back. Nakuru, Suppi, Kero, and Yue were also happy that the journey was halfway over.  
  
The only person he could possibly identify with was Rika, but except for the time he had accidentally overheard her talking with herself, he had not once heard her say anything that revealed any uncertainty. Rika needed to be awarded for her bravery, but perhaps another time. Now was not an appropriate time to put on a show.  
  
He wanted to confront her, not in a threatening way, but to see if there was anything any of them could do to help. He knocked on her door. Nakuru was not in the room.  
  
"Come in," was the soft reply.  
  
Eriol entered and was surprised to see a slightly red-eyed Rika. His face must have registered some surprise, "What? Does it show?" she asked, turning away.  
  
"Does what show?"  
  
"Don't play dumb. I was crying."  
  
Eriol sighed. "Yeah. A little."  
  
"Are you going to tell them?" she asked. "They can't know."  
  
"I'm not going to tell."  
  
Rika shuffled some papers she had on her desk. "So why did you come see me?"  
  
"Rika...I don't know how to say this..." Eriol hesitated. How was he supposed to ask her what he wanted to know?  
  
"Just ask. Forget about everything. In fact, if you want to, pretend I'm not here and talk to the wall."  
  
"Impossible. Forget it. I'll just say it. You don't know where Hope is, do you?" he said. It came out in an accusing tone, but that wasn't how he meant it.  
  
"Do you think it's my fault?" she retorted quietly, trying to mask the anger rising in her.  
  
"That's not what I meant, Rika. It came out the wrong way."  
  
"Did it?" Rika asked, resigned. She'd swallowed her anger.  
  
"Do you...I mean...what do you...I mean. What are you going to do?"  
  
"I don't have all the answers. And the uncertainty's killing me Eriol. It's killing me," Rika leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.  
  
"No one ever has all the answers. I never had all the answers."  
  
"This is different though. No one's going to disappear forever because you didn't know. If I don't know, you'll never see Tomoyo again, I'll never see Yoshiyuki again. Hell, Syaoran might not even get Sakura back. You know, at one point, I wished I'm gotten pregnant with his child. That way, even if we didn't go back, I'd still have something. And something's better than nothing at all." Eriol was silent. What could he say? Rika had said everything he had meant to say already and more.  
  
"I hate this, Eriol," Rika said in a whisper that was barely audible. "I hate all the uncertainty. I hate the weight of the world on my shoulders. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. If you told me you'd ever felt like this I'd never believe you. I'd laugh at you. It's impossible for anyone to feel like this unless they've been in my place." Rika swallowed and took in a trembling breath. She opened her eyes and looked at Eriol. "But most of all, I hate who I'm becoming."  
  
Her statement took him by surprise. He was not aware that Rika knew she had changed. Rika put her face in her hands. "I hate who I'm turning into. Some days, I wake up and I don't know who I am anymore. Sometimes, I can feel the darkness in my soul. It's like acid, Eriol. It's eating away at me. I don't know how long I can keep up this stupid charade of nonchalance. It's like ice. I'm emotionless, and the emotions that I do show are...are...they're carved into me. They're all I have left of who I was before."  
  
She wiped away the tears that had fallen and laughed bitterly. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this. You can't even help me. I'm supposed to have all the answers....but I don't," she repeated, breaking into a fresh round of quiet sobs.  
  
So, even Rika was close to her breaking point. Eriol let out an equally bitter "Ha!" Rika looked at him through teary eyes. "I thought I was the only one who was on the edge of complete dispair," he said. "I remembered that you didn't know where the Key of Hope was and I almost went crazy in here," he said, pointing to his heart. "I'm not used to sitting around and not being able to do anything. And you know what, Rika, the uncertainty is killing me too."  
  
They looked at each other for a few moments. "So what do you do when you're nearly out of hope?" Rika whispered.  
  
Eriol could only shake his head. He knew that he wasn't alone now, but some how, that made him even more depressed than when he thought he was alone.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sobek stared off into space. He was exhausted. All day, he had worked on a simulation of his prisoner, Sakura. He needed to illusion to be substantial, so people wouldn't know it was an illusion. He needed to know how the real Sakura acted and how the real Sakura kept herself. Sobek could not hurt Sakura in any way, nor could he change her using his magic. So he had to make a puppet of her. It needed to be exactally like her.  
  
If his plan worked, this clone would be the downfall of the Child of Light and the Child of Dark. Two titles, one person. He could fell Rika Sasaki in one shot if his plan worked. _If_ his plan worked.  
  
The real Sakura would never knowingly betray her beloved. What was his name? Syaoran. She would never do that. Sobek could not magically alter her to do that either. He was going to send his puppet to retrieve the key of Hate. The next key Rika and her little group was after. Syaoran would be so stunned that his precious Sakura had betrayed them all that he would be incapacitated. All the rest would stop what they were doing to take care of him. Then Sobek could offer Sakura in exchange for Rika. He'd show them the real Sakura then, perhaps just an illusion though. He'd yet to fix all the details.  
  
Sobek chucked. "This is going to be plenty of fun. Plenty of fun."  
  
His expression became serious though, when the Bauble floated in. Slowly. Sobek knew where it had been. When ever it was anywhere close to Sakura, it started to move slowly. As if Sakura was taking his bauble's energy. He couldn't exactally order the bauble to stay away from her, it's observations were what he based his simulacrum on. He needed it to be close to her sometimes.  
  
Sobek sighed and held out the palm of his hand. The bauble rested in it, giving Sobek what it'd seen of Sakura. The bauble always kept some to itself though. Sobek didn't know that, but the entity controlling the bauble always restrained the bauble from dumping all it's memories into Sobek, because once Sobek had them, the bauble would forget; it would not be able to see those memories again. Somethings, the bauble needed to keep.  
  
Sobek was very sure his simuation was going to be extremely convincing. He'd checked everything continuously. It was a good thing he was ready to soon. By his watch, the Child of Light and Dark was going to arrive in Diaten soon. Everything needed to be in place. Sobek uncovered a statue in the corner of his study, revealing an exact copy of Sakura.  
  
"Wake up, Sakura Kinomoto," Sobek passed his hand over her face, giving life to the automaton.  
  
The clone's eye's fluttered open. That was the one thing Sobek always bothered himself over. They eyes. The imitation's eyes were too dark. They were almost hazle, they were that dark. He could never get the color to match the real Sakura's, and if he wasn't careful, that was exactally how he would be discovered. Because of the eyes.  
  
"The same way I found out I'd gotten the wrong girl," Sobek mused. It was funny how fate did play such tricks.  
  
The imitation looked boldly at Sobek. "What do you want?" it asked almost rudely and then giggled. "I mean, oh my gosh, what have you done with Syaoran?" she pretended to look around for him and then collapsing into a fit of giggles at Sobek's side.  
  
"I didn't find that funny, Sakura," Sobek reprimanded. "You're really supposed to mean it."  
  
"Fine then," the dark-eyed Sakura cleared her throat and started again. "Let me go back to Syaoran, Sobek. Please. Please," she pleaded, sounding very much like the real thing.  
  
"That's better," Sobek sounded slightly pleased.  
  
"Did you like it?" she whispered flirtatiously.  
  
He turned around. "Save it for Syaoran," he told her causticlly.  
  
"When do I get someone to play with?" she pouted.  
  
"Soon. Soon, I'll send you there in a few days. For now though, you need to remember what you're supposed to do there."  
  
"Yadda, yadda, I know, I know. Get in with Syaoran and get him to convince Rika to let me see the keys so I can take them," she sounded slightly bored. After all, Sobek had _only_ rehearsed the events with her _every_ time she woke up.  
  
The bauble floated in front of her face, flashing pictures of Syaoran and the others into her mind. This was the first time she had seen any of them, and she was likeing what she saw.  
  
"Whoa, that Eriol kid is kinda cute," she said, sticking her tongue out a little.  
  
"Syaoran, Sakura, Syaoran," Sobek reminded her.  
  
"I know, I know. Whoa! He's cute too! Dang, Sakura has good looking friends."  
  
"Sakura," Sobek growled warningly.  
  
"I was talking about Syaoran, and emphasis on the 'ku', Sobek dear," Sakura reminded him for the nth time. Right from the beginning, to differentiate from the real Sakura in conversation, she'd insisted that Sobek call her saKUra not SAkuRA.  
  
"I'm not you're dear." The fake Sakura could be a handful sometimes. She was more headstrong than the real thing. It was a good thing she was able to hide it when she had to. Sobek sighed. "Have you got their faces in your memory? The Bauble might not be able to show them to you again." Sometimes, he wondered if he would be able to control her. To reel her in again.  
  
Sakura nodded. She smiled to herself and glared at the wall above Sobek's head. She would do what she was supposed to do. Oh, yes, yes, yes. The eagerness was almost uncontrollable. She would do everything Sobek told her to do, and maybe, she blinked slowly. Deffinately. She would surpass expectations.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
a/n: Did the two ways of pronouncing Sakura make sense? Another character to play with. Goodie. bwahahahahaha XD 


	19. Part 2: a discovery

  
**DISCLAIMER: **   
  
  
  
  


**a discovery**

  
  
  
  
They had been on the surface of the planet for about a week. The people of Diaten feared the outsiders and immediatly took them to see Letith, the leader of their council of 10. The one who made the rules. Letith had immediately taken to them and once he assured the riotous crowds that the off-worlders were safe, Rika, Syaoran, Eriol, and the guardians had free roam of the capital city.  
  
Letith had light orange hair and skin that was tinted green. Suppi, who was on a slight sugar high at the time of their first meeting, bluntly asked if he dyed all of his skin and hair. Letith blinked. "No. I was born like this," and then laughed, noticing Rika out of the corner of his eye.  
  
It was market day in the city and Rika and Nakuru decided they wanted to go explore. Even though Nakuru was a guardian, Syaoran refused to let them go alone. Letith had made sure they all had money. "Go and experience the wonders of Diaten," he said laughing.  
  
The three of them sat in a park at midday, resting their tired feet. "My goodness, I've never done so much walking in my life," Nakuru complained.  
  
"That's because you have wings," Syaoran retorted.  
  
"That's not the point."  
  
"Rika, when are you going to ask Letith about the key?"  
  
"I already did," she answered miserably, "but all he did was laugh and say he had to find it."  
  
"I don't trust him," Syaoran glared off into space.  
  
"Do you trust anyone?" Nakuru sarcastically asked.  
  
"Yes, just not immediately. I mean, did you see the way he looked at her?" he said, defending his suspicions.  
  
"Syaoran, you think everyone's suspicious."  
  
"Just you wait. If anything happens, I'm blaming Letith."  
  
While Nakuru admonished him, he watched the people in the crowd. There were so many different types of people. He was not just refering to skin color, he was looking at people with four arms or three legs or seven fingers. It was simply amazing. No one in the market even looked "normal". There was one girl in the crowd, though, with short brown hair and green eyes....He and Rika must have noticed her at the same time because right as he yelled out, she gasped and covered her mouth.  
  
"What?" Nakuru asked, completely oblivious to who they had just seen.  
  
Syaoran and Rika looked at each other. "You saw that didn't you?" she asked him.  
  
He nodded. "I don't see her any more though, do you?" He sounded disappointed.  
  
"Nope."  
  
"See what?" Nakuru demanded.  
  
"We have to get back and tell the others," Rika said.  
  
Syaoran nodded in agreement. "Nakuru, can you fly the two of us back?"  
  
"I'm not Suppi or Kero, I can do one of you but not both."  
  
"Never mind then, let's just go."  
  
Navigating through the ocean of people was a much harder task going back than coming. It seemed as if no one wanted to let them through. No matter how much they excused and pardoned themselves they constantly found themselved being scrutinized in an unfriendly fashion. Half an hour later, when they finally reached Letith's home, where they were staying, the trio was completely out of breath and more than completely exhausted.  
  
Eriol saw them running up the front steps and as soon as they were in the door, quesitoned them. "What's the matter?"  
  
The only thing any of them could do was pant and gesture. "Water," one of them demanded.  
  
Eriol obligingly brought them some water. By the time they had sufficiently recovered to talk coherently, Yue, Kero, Suppi, and Letith had joined them. "Is something wrong?" Letith asked innocently.  
  
"I wouldn't exactally say 'wrong', Letith, it's more of a 'if we're right, we can all breath easy' deal," Rika explained.  
  
"So what is it? You have me on the edge of my seat," Kero asked.  
  
"You aren't sitting," Nakuru pointed out, which was true. He was hovering.  
  
"I meant figuratively."   
"That's enough for now. Look, guys, how many people on this planet have you seen that look like us?" Syaoran asked.  
  
"No one," Eriol and Suppi said at the same time.  
  
"Exactally. Sakura...she's here...."  
  
Yue's eyes widened. He looked around and could tell everyone was trying to restrain their emotions. "I think...I think we must speak of this privately, the seven of us," Yue suggested.  
  
"Yes, excuse us please, Letith," Suppi added, flying up to the rooms Letith had so graciously let them use.  
  
When they were completely alone, Eriol spelled the room so no one could hear what they were talking about. That was when everyone started yelling at each other. Kero flew up to Syaoran and knocked on his head. "Are you sure you aren't just love-sick?" he demanded.  
  
"I know Sakura when I see her."  
  
"It _did_ look a lot like her," Rika added.  
  
"Nakuru?" Eriol asked.  
  
"Hey, I saw nothing. I wasn't paying attention at the people," she shuddered.  
  
"Is there a way we can go look for her?" Yue asked.  
  
"It could be a trap," Suppi suggested.  
  
"YEAH? Well what if it's NOT a trap?" Syaoran retorted.  
  
"We should take some kind of precaution though, in case it _is_ a trap, Syaoran," Eriol reminded him.  
  
"Sakura would understand if we did, Syaoran," Rika said  
  
Syoaran started to mope. Eriol lost his temper. "Look, Syaoran. We're going to look for Sakura. That's been decided, but tell me, from all your training at home, and capturing cards with Sakura, haven't you learned any kind of caution??" he demanded.  
  
Syaoran looked like he was about to speak. "Fine. Take all the necessary precautions."  
  
"It would be awkward if we were all out asking for her. We don't exactally blend in," Yue pointed out.  
  
"Maybe we could ask Letith to send soldiers looking for someone who looks like us," Suppi asked.  
  
"Then there's me no risk to any of us," Nakuru added, pointing out the merit in that plan.  
  
"I want to help look for her though," Syaoran said.  
  
"Maybe it's better though, if we let others do it for us. I'm sure Mistress Sakura wouldn't want us to be captured by Sobek."  
  
"I don't think so either."  
  
"Then it's settled," Eriol said, relieved.  
  
"No...no it's not," Syaoran objected again.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I don't trust Letith."  
  
The volume in the room once again grew louder, each trying to make his own voice heard. But Rika was the only successful one.  
  
"QUIET!" she demanded.  
  
Surprised, they all looked at her. Once again, the steely glint of determination sparkled in her eyes. She pursed her lips and waited until everyone was watching her, making sure they saw the change in her. "I'm the reason Syaoran doesn't trust Letith. We went through this at the market place. We need to take precautions against Letith too."  
  
"If I hadn't listened to the conversation, Rika, I wouldn't know what the heck you were talking about, Rika," Nakuru was the only one brave enough at the moment, to speak up.  
  
"Right now, it doesn't matter why Syaoran suspects Letith, it only matters that he suspect him. If we're going to do this right, we're gong to take precautions against Letith too," she went on, ignoring Nakuru.  
  
"Rika, I think that might be asking too much, we can either risk ourselves, or risk Letith. I say we risk Letith," Eriol said soothingly.  
  
"Fine, we trust Letith. This time. What do you say Syaoran?" Rika relented after a few minutes of thinking.  
  
"Yes. I agree."  
  
"Are we all good then?" Eriol asked. "Because I do believe there's someone outside the door."  
  
"We probably should hold on a few seconds. To make it look like we were having a rational conversation," Suppi suggested.  
  
"Are you suggesting our conversation wasn't rational, Suppi dearest?" Nakuru deviously asked.  
  
"We've had more rational ones I'd say," he answered, completely oblivious to Nakuru's attitude.  
  
"I think I heard someone decide that today was pick on Suppi day again."  
  
Suppi's head jerked up. "I can sit on you!"  
  
"I'd like to see you try!"  
  
Eriol laughed. Everything was back to normal now. He took the spell off the door and opened it. Letith stood outside. He took in the scene that was playing in the room. Nakuru was chasing Spinel Sun around the room, Syaoran was ignoring the hubbub and looking out the window. Yue was flying around, trying to avoid Suppi and Nakuru. Yet through all that, Eriol was still able to smile graciously and open the door, and Rika was able to loung in an easy chair. Yes, he soaked it all in. Especially Rika. "Ooookkkayyyy," he commented, unaware that he made that.  
  
"Would you look at that?" Eriol called out. "It's Letith!"  
  
Syaoran turned around to look, but other than that, everyone else continued to do what they were doing.  
  
"Letith, I'd ask you to come in and sit, but I don't know if you want to risk getting knocked over," Eriol joked.  
  
"No, no, that's ok. I'll just stay here..."  
  
"We have a favor to ask of you. We're not sure if you can do it though," Eriol began.  
  
Letith looked around. Syaoran noticed his wandering gaze hover around Rika and stepped forward to block his view of her.  
  
"We were wondering if you could help us find someone," Eriol went on.  
  
"It's a girl. She looks a lot like us, pale skin, dark hair. She has green eyes," Syaoran added.  
  
"I'll do what I can," Letith agreed. "Does this girl have a name?"  
  
"Sakura," Eriol answered.  
  
"We thought it might me easier if you just sent some people out looking instead of us. We don't exactally fit in here," Syaoran explained, further blocking his view of Rika.  
  
Letith gave up trying to see her. "I'll send people out right now."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Eight days ago, Sobek had sent her to this stupid place where no one was normal.  
  
The only thing Sakura looked forward to was stealing the real Sakura's boyfriend.  
  
She had been looking for them. She hadn't found them yet, but she knew they were in the country. There were stories of funny looking people from the stars. Sakura looked down on them. They were the funny looking ones, not her. Not her.  
  
Everywhere she went, she was mistaken as one of them, but she wasn't. Sakura was staying in the country side. Fewer questions were asked there. Every morning, she wandered into the city and everynight, she returned home, disappointed that she hadn't found them. Sobek had given her nothing to facilitate communication between the two. The annoying bauble appeared everyonce in a while, telling her that Sobek was nearby, in the shadows.  
  
During one of her daily walks through the city though, she found herself surrounded all of a sudden by people in crisp, bright uniforms. "The head councilman is looking for someone like you," one of them said.  
  
"Oh, really? Why?" she retorted.  
  
"You really don't want to go against him," the same one said again. His uniform had more metal on it. Sakura assumed he was the leader.  
  
"Fine then."  
  
"We're supposed to escort you to him..."  
  
"As long as you keep your hands off me...." Sakura allowed herself to be lead to the house of Letith.  
  
  
  
  
  



	20. Part 2: Heresaybeing two places at once

  
**DISCLAIMER: *sigh* I'm so tired of writing this disclaimer, I even forgot to write it on the last chapter. Oh well, by now, if you don't know that I don't own ccs....i have nothing to say about you. **   
  
  
  
  


**Here-say.....being two places at once**

  
  
  
  
Far away, Sakura woke up. She had dreamed the most wonderful dream, she was with Syaoran again and they were in Hong Kong together. But looking at her surroundings, she was still Sobek's prisoner. The nights on Sobek's world were cold. In fact, the days were cold too. Sakura shuddered and pulled the blankets closer to her body.  
  
She hear laughter down the hallway and a scuttleing of feet. Her door opened and shut quickly as a servant scrambled in and slumped to the ground. Sakura blinked. This was a servant she had never met. The little creature turned around and squealed in terror, trying to claw it's way back up and out of the door.  
  
"What's wrong. You don't have to be scared," Sakura soothed. She got out of bed, dragging a blanket around her for warmth, and creeped over to the quivering servant. As she inched closer, the servant only shaked more violently. "I'll stay here then," she said, sitting down on the ground, hoping to befriend the scared thing.  
  
As the servant became convinced that Sakura was not going to hurt him, he started to make more coherent sounds. "You...you're...how..."  
  
Sakura was dozing in her position on the floor. As soon as it started to talk though, she became more alert. "What about me?"  
  
"How...can....How can you be in two places at once?"  
  
"Me? Two places? That's impossible. I'm not allowed to go out." Now Sakura was curious. What could Sobek possibly be up to that would allow the poor servant to be seeing double?  
  
"You tried to hurt me outside..." it said in an injured tone.  
  
"I would never hurt you. I've never seen you in my life." Obviously, whatever Sobek wanted to do was not good.  
  
"I...you...." the servant, overwhelmed by the complexity of the idea as well as fear, fainted.  
  
Sakura sighed and got back up. She sat down on her bed and ran through the facts. She was a prisoner in Sobek's castle. Sobek had wanted to get Rika, but ended up getting her instead. Sobek had something that looked a heck of a lot like her, but wasn't like her at all. What was he going to do? Was he trying to trick Syaoran? What for? He wanted Rika. Or was the other her a failed experiment. Either way, she didn't like the idea of being imitated.  
  
Sakura watched out the window as the sun came up. A squat little servant, the same old woman who came in every day, waddled in, clucking to herself. She say the little fainted servant on the floor and squeaked, and started tsking again. "Poor Toba. We've been looking for him all night. Tsk, Tsk. What was he doing wandering around?"  
  
The old woman pulled Toba out of the way and started to light a fire. "Why are you awake so early today?" she asked, ignoring how Toba got in Sakura's room.  
  
Sakura shrugged. "I couldn't sleep."  
  
"Did Toba wake you up?" she asked, obviously thinking the worst of the little one.  
  
"No, no. I woke up on my own. Then I heard laughter and Toba ran in, saw me, and then fainted."  
  
"He shouldn't have been wandering the halls at night," the serving woman whispered ominously.  
  
Sakura let her finish building the fire before she spoke again. "Can you tell me what's going on?"  
  
She shivered. "I'm not supposed to tell you."  
  
"Why not? I never go anywhere. I'm in here all day, what could I possibly do?"  
  
"It's a bad, bad thing the master is doing."  
  
"What's bad?"  
  
The servant scrunched down near the fainted Toba and picked him up. "Maybe someday, you'll find out." And she walked out the door with Toba on her back.  
  
Sakura sighed and flopped onto the bed. She wanted to know what she wasn't supposed to know, but since she didn't really know anything, she had to content herself with thinking.  
  
What were Syaoran, Eriol, Rika, Yue, Kero, Nakuru, and Suppi doing now? Sometimes she imagined them close to saving her. Sometimes, she imagined that they were still stuck on the last planet they were on. The one covered in snow. Hopefully, Syaoran had gotten the two missing cards. Hopefully.  
  
She prayed that they were all fine. She had been devastated when she was separated from Syaoran. How had he reacted? She thought back to her battle with Yue, when she had first been appointed the mistress of the cards. Yue had shown her a world where she was completely alone. A world where she didn't have friends. That was how she felt now sometimes, but she knew that she was not alone. She had Syaoran, and Rika, and Eriol, and Yue, and Kero, and Nakuru, and Suppi. All of them cared about her. They were trying to find her right now. She knew that was what was happening. It had to be happening.  
  
If she was so sure though, why was she so scared?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Two days later, Sakura sat forlornly at her window. All of a sudden, a green ball of fire shot up from a lower level and into the night sky. As the flame disappeared among the stars, there was much activity in the hallways. Sakura could hear it, the excited chittering of the servants. She wanted to open the door to see what was happening, but before she could, the door opened as the bent old woman who lit the fire every morning came in.  
  
"The master just left."  
  
"Is that why everyone's so noisy?" Sakura asked.  
  
"The woman shook her head. "No, we are trying to decide what to do," seeing the blank look on Sakura's face, the servant continued. "You see, we haven't decided yet, but I'm going to tell you anyway," the woman straighted up. "The master is going to try and trick your friends. He made a thing that looked just like you."  
  
"And that's what hurt poor Toba the other day?" she asked. As the magnitude of what she just heard dawned on her, Sakura gasped and reached for her coat. There must be some way I can warn them! There has to be! She thought to herself, nearly fainting from lack of air as her lungs constricted on their own.  
  
"Why are you telling me this?" Sakura asked. "Are you going to try to help me?"  
  
"There's no way we can help you. We only know what the Master lets us know."  
  
"Then why did you tell me?"  
  
The old woman suddenly became shy. "There are rumors," she whispered, "that you have magic. Like the Master. We thought maybe you could..."  
  
"Rumors?"  
  
She nodded. "You should try and help your friends." The old lady left, leaving the door slightly ajar behind her - an invitation to freedom.  
  
Sakura closed the door. She needed time alone. Time to think. What could she possibly do? She had no idea what the cards were capable of from a distance, and there was quite a distance between her and Syaoran. Heck, she didn't even know where Syaoran was!  
  
She pulled out the pile of cards from her coat pocket. Sobek still had not discovered that she had them, which was good. Fanning the cards face up, she looked at her arsenal. There really wasn't much to work with since she had no idea where they were. Not much at all. But she had to try and do something. Different cards raced through her mind.  
  
No, cards like dash, fly, and jump wouldn't help her at all. Light and Dark wouldn't either. Create might, but what could it do? Last, she came to the Hope card. Syaoran had its counterpart, Love. It was a long shot, but could Hope possibly communicate with Love? She sighed. "Key of the Star, with powers burning bright, reveal the staff, and shine your light. Release!" she recited. "Hope, is there some way you can get in touch with the other two cards I think Syaoran probably has? If there is, can you please try?" she begged.  
  
Hope released itself and smiled reassuringly at Sakura. She closed her eyes, in what Sakura presumed to be an attempt to contact the two missing cards.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Syaoran couldn't sleep. Something big was going to happen, he could feel it in his bones. He had fallen asleep for a short while earlier, but his dreams were full of Sakura. It was too painful for him to handle. He picked up the two Sakura cards off his dresser and sighed. If only Sakura were here now.  
  
"Syaoran!" a faint voice called out to him.  
  
His head jerked up. "Who's there?" he demanded.  
  
"Syaoran!" the voice called again, and then it occured to him that it was Sakura's voice he was hearing.  
  
"Sakura!" he whispered, getting out of bed and looking around. "Where are you?"  
  
"Watch out for the other me," the voice said.  
  
"Where are you? Sakura! What other you?"  
  
"Be careful Syaoran."  
  
"What? Sakura!! Where are you! Tell me!"  
  
"I love you."  
  
He felt the voice leaving. _"Sakura!!!"_  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Did it work?" she asked the Hope.  
  
"If he had the cards with him, I hope it worked," Hope replied in her eerily hollow voice.  
  
"He has to have the cards," Sakura said determinedly.  
  
"I'm sure he does, Mistress." The Hope returned to its card form. Sakura sighed again. She was sighing a lot lately. Her mind couldn't think of anything else that needed to be done. Hopefully, he'd gotten the message. Filled with a new resolve, for the first time in over two months, she got dressed and stepped out her door.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	21. Part 2: Illusions, Illusions, and more I...

  
**DISCLAIMER: Do I even need to do this any more? What was that? Yes? *sigh* I don't own ccs. So there.**   
a/n: It's been a while since my last update....gomen!   
  
  
  


**Illusions, Illusions, and more Illusions**

  
  
  
  
They walked, well Sakura walked, the guards marched. "Hey!" she yelled. "I thought we were gonna go to Letith's house. What the hell is going on?"  
  
The leader turned around and peered at Sakura. "We aren't going to Letith's house. We're going to the council hall."  
  
Sakura got glares from some of the guardsmen and decided that she really needed to keep her mouth shut. They marched up the steps to the council hall, marched up more steps to the council room and then even more steps to Letith's office.  
  
"Coucilman Letith isn't available right now," his secretary answered in a surprisingly rich voice for something that was blazing pink and purple all over. "Is there something I can help you with? Are you soldiers supposed to be in here?"  
  
"The councilman wanted us to find this girl...I think. He wasn't too specific," the leader said, winking at the secretary.  
  
She acted flustered. "Disgusting," Sakura muttered to herself, turning her back to the flirting pair. It was rather unsettling to be taken in my soldiers to see someone. Had she done anything against the law lately? If she did, she could always say that she wasn't aware of the law. What other possible reason could there be for Letith to see her?  
  
Another problem popped into her head. How was she supposed to let Sobek know what happened? Chances were that he'd already found out what was going on, but still, what if he hadn't found out yet?  
  
Sakura sighed and settle down in her chair. From the way the secretary was talking, this Letith man might not be back for a while. She was really quite tired now that she thought about it. Walking so much everyday took up energy. Worrying about Sobek took energy. Worrying about keeping up appearances took energy too. So much energy used up on so few things. Sakura yawned and closed her eyes. Maybe a short nap would be good.  
  
Hours later, the secretary woke her up. The sun had set and the streets were lit by candles now. "I'm sorry, dear, Letith didn't come back today. I don't know when he'll be in again, since the council's not in session, but I left a note saying you were to see him. You should find a place to stay."  
  
Sakura blinked. What just happened? How was it that she had fallen asleep? Who was this? "Huh?" was all she managed to mumble.  
  
"Poor thing, you look so confused and lost. You can stay with me until we find out what Letith wants, how does that sound?" she cooed.  
  
"Do I get food and a place to sleep?" she bluntly asked. The secretary nodded. "Ok."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Letith knocked on Rika's door. It was still very early in the morning; he didn't expect her to be up yet. Much to his surprise, the door was opened, but not by Rika, by one of her friends, the one with the silver hair. Yue.  
  
Yue opened the door wider, allowing Letith too see everyone up, but still in their pajamas, congregated in Rika's room. They looked like they were in the middle of a conversation. "And I was afraid none of you would be up yet," Letith remarked inviting himself in.  
  
Syaoran was glaring at Letith, suspicious that he should come calling so early in the morning. Nakuru noticed and slapped the back of his head. "What was that for?" he demanded.  
  
"Play nice," she said. An innocent comment that could have had bearing on their conversation; Letith had no way of knowing that she was referring to him and Syaoran. Syaoran mummbled something about stupid guardians. "What did you say?" Nakuru and Kero said at the same time, each giving him their version of the evil eye, which Syaoran gladly returned.  
  
"So, what brings you here so early, Letith?" Eriol asked.  
  
"Is it about the key?" Rika added.  
  
"Well, actually, yes," Letith replied jovially.  
  
"That's a good thing," Suppi remarked lazily, enjoying the three way staring contest.  
  
"Indeed. I was actually wondering though," he started, looking again at Rika, "if Rika could come with me to the council hall.."  
  
"It's not here with you?" Rika was amazed. Somehow, it never occured to her that the key wouldn't be as close to Letith as possible.  
  
Letith cleared his throat. "No, it's not here with me."  
  
"Ok. I'll go."  
  
"Rika," Kero called out, trying to remind her of what Syaoran was worrying about.  
  
"Don't worry, Kero."  
  
Letith helped Rika into the carraige waiting for them. His house was not that far from the Council hall, but he liked riding in the cabs. He felt almost guilty for taking her away from them, but they had that girl the secretary said was waiting for him. And _it_ was asking for her. Why? Letith could guess, but he wasn't sure.  
  
Letith really did have this "Key" Rika was looking for. He really was going to show it to her. But whether or not he was going to allow her to leave...His concience said that he should, but his heart said that he shouldn't.  
  
The whole ride went in complete silence. Rika looked out the window or the cab. Letith admired her profile and wondered what she could be thinking. He noted, when they got out of the carraige, that she walked with more zest in her step. She must be cheerful, he thought, even though she has no expression on her face.  
  
He led the way into the labyrinth of the building, making sure she would not be able to find her way out. He finally opened the door to a room with a glass case in the center. Rika cautiously walked in. "No wonder you had to look for it. It's buried inside the building!"  
  
"Well, my predecessor had told me about this room, but I couldn't remember exactally where it was, so it _did_ take a bit of looking," he lied.  
  
Rika lifted the glass casing and delicately picked up the medalion. A beautifully carved red fire was on one side and the symbol for fire was on the other. She pulled a box out of her pocket and a little key that was on the chain she was wearing. She opened the box and put the key in. Then, Rika felt a slight pressure on her back, between her shoulder blades, and the world around her once again, dissolved into darkness.  
  
Letith bent over and took Rika's pulse. When he was younger, he was taught about different pressure points. Many of them caused intense pain, but some could cause other effects, like what had happened to Rika. Letith hummed softly to himself and moved a panel on the wall. He picked up Rika and disappeared into the hole.  
  
Letith walked slowly and cautiously along the pathway. It had been a long time since he had been down here and the path, he remembered correctly, was not very smooth at all.  
  
He reached a doorway. It opened without his letting go of Rika. A ball of light swirled around excitedly. "Is she it?" Letith asked.  
  
"If she can break my spell..." the light answered. It swirled faster and faster. Letith blocked his eyes as the room grew brighter and brighter.  
  
"You said that the one who came for the key is going to her it!"  
  
"Ahh, but the keys were just a formality. I can see everything. She is probably going to be the one, but my brother...my counterpart...never mind," the light stopped. Its voice grew hollow. "Her friends have helped me; she has many friends that are already claimed by me. Too bad for my opposite..."  
  
"Things are finally coming to a head then?"  
  
The light chuckled jovially. "Yes. They are." The light expanded and then dimmed all of a sudden; even though the room was still quite bright, Letith had to wait for his eyes to adjust again.  
  
"How long will this take?"  
  
"As long as it needs to."  
  
"Will she eat?"  
  
"Letith, Letith, the girl's in statis now. Everything is in her mind. She won't need to eat or anything."  
  
Letith's face was blank. "You haven't developed the concept of statis yet," the light pointed out. "Just think of it as a long, long sleep. You don't need anything when you sleep do you?"  
  
Letith shook his head. "I see." He turned around and started to leave. "Don't be too mean to her."  
  
"You worry too much. Come and visit!"  
  
Letith shook his head and closed the door. The room he was just in, and the room joining it had been under his house for centuries. They were connected to the Council hall; a relic of his country's violent past. The ball of light had only come to reside in those two rooms in the last few years. It was a useful thing to have around, helping Letith with sometimes difficult decisions, but it's real quest...well, it never really revealed it's intentions to him.  
  
All Letith knew was that what ever the light thing wanted, it usually helped everybody immensly.  
  
Letith walked up to his office and greeted his secretary. "Go and fetch the girl," he ordered her.  
  
"Now?" she asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
An hour later, she returned with a sullen looking girl, with green eyes and brown hair. "You must be Sakura," Letith greeted.  
  
"Letith?" she questioned sharply.  
  
"Come with me," he motioned. Thanking the secretary, he led Sakura out of the building. Sakura peered into the shadows under the carraige. Sobek's bauble was there. It was probably going to follow her wherever she went. It irritated her that Sobek kept such a close eye on her, but there was nothing she could do about it at the moment.  
  
The carraige stopped. "Wait here," Letith ordered her.  
  
He went inside and checked on his guests. "Did Rika come back yet?"  
  
Nakuru looked up. "Huh? She's not back with you?"  
  
"No, she wanted to walk back," he blinked and preteneded to be clueless.  
  
"You let her walk back?" Syaoran and Eriol demanded at the same time.  
  
"Something came up and I had to be at the office for a while."  
  
They looked nervously at each other. "If Rika's lost. I mean, if she doesn't come back," Suppi started.  
  
"Don't even go there," Kero stopped him. "It's too depressing."  
  
"If she doesn't come back by dusk, I promise I'll send people out looking for her," Letith said. "On a lighter note, I think I found who you were looking for."  
  
Syaoran snapped to attention. "Did you? Where is she?"  
  
"Outside, in the carraige-"  
  
Before he could say anything else, Syaoran bolted out the door and outside by the carraige. Nakuru was about to follow.  
  
"Don't," Eriol said gently, holding her back. "If it's Sakura, they'll want to be alone."  
  
Yue looked out the window. Sakura had run out of the carraige as soon as she had seen Syaoran run out of the house and threw herself into his arms. Kero flew over to Yue. "What's wrong?" he asked the guardian of the moon.  
  
Yue narrowed his eyes as he watched the two of them kiss. "I'm not sure," he shook his head.  
  
Syaoran led Sakura into the house and to where everyone was gathered. Kero flew to Sakura and clamped on to her arm. "Wai! Wai! You're back!" he cried.  
  
"Kero," Sakura laughed. "I missed you so very much," she said.  
  
"Sakura," Eriol greeted. "It's good to have you back."  
  
"It's good to _be_ back."  
  
Nakuru glomped Sakura. "I hope you don't mind, Syaoran, I'll have to steal Sakura and catch up with her."  
  
Syaoran laughed good naturedly. "Sakura," Yue greeted, a smile touched his lips. "Mistress."  
  
Sakura grinned at Yue. "Where's Rika?"  
  
"She's lost," Syaoran said, glaring at Letith.  
  
"Don't worry, we're sending people out to look for her," Letith assured.  
  
For a split second, Sakura's grin faltered, but she put it right back on. No one noticed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
"She's in?" Sobek asked the bauble.  
  
In response, the bauble showed an image of Syaoran and Sakura kissing. Sobek laughed. "I'll have them all soon. I'll have them all."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sakura was frantic, but she showed no outward sign of her emotions. Everything was going according to Sobek's plan, except the Rika wasn't there. Where was she?! This was not good. Not good at all.  
  
If only there was a way to tell Sobek that Rika had gone missing. The bauble would find out soon, but if she could tell him, he'd be able to think of something! She flashed a smile at Syaoran. For now, the only thing she would be able to do was pretend to love Syaoran; it would be easier to get to Rika eventually if she did this first.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
As she walked around, exploring the castle, the servants ignored her and pretended not to see her. Sakura was grateful for this unexpected chance to stretch her legs. The magnitude of Sobek's castle was awe inspiring, and she couldn't find any kind of way out. During her jaunts through the house, Sakura pondered what Sobek possibly could want with a replica of her. It would help if she knew where he was going.  
  
Sakura had a suspicion that he was going to find Rika, but with a replica of her? What for?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Rika woke up slowly. Yoshiyuki Tereda's face peered anxiously above hers. She struggled to sit up. "No, no Rika, stay lying down," he insisted.  
  
"Where am I?" she asked drowsily.  
  
"You're still at Sakura's place remember?"  
  
"Oh," she said lamely. There was something she was forgetting, she knew it.  
  
"Everyone is still here. Waiting to see if you're ok."  
  
"Have I been out long?"  
  
"Just a few seconds."  
  
"Rika! Oh my goodness," Chiharu exclaimed, "have you seen a doctor about this fainting issue?"  
  
"Yeah. They can't figure it out."  
  
"I should get you home, Rika," Tereda put his arm around her and helped her up.  
  
As he led her out the door and said goodnight to everyone else, Rika leaned against his comforting arm. There was something missing. Something that was not right. But...  
  
Rika yawned. "That can wait another day."  
  
"What can wait another day?" Yoshiyuki asked humerously.  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"Nevermind. Get some sleep. I'm taking you home, darling."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
a/n: OH MY GOSH! Are they falling apart or what? 


	22. Part 2: Thoughts

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own ccs, if you don't realize that by now, your wierd.**   
  
  
  
  


**Thoughts**

  
  
  
  
_"What's this I hear about you holding a little girl captive?"   
"She's hardly a little girl, and I'm not holding her captive. I'm testing her."   
"I really don't see a difference."   
"If she were being held captive, I wouldn't let her go; if she finds out that she's living in an illusion, I let her go."   
"And if she doesn't?"   
"She will because she is the Child of Light."   
"Not if I can help it."   
"Too bad for you I have her and you don't."   
"Ha! Well, bully for you. I have another way-"   
"And I can tell you exactally why it won't work. You put your plan into action way too late."   
"It would've worked if your crazy henchman hadn't decided to wait until he took the girl before giving her friends the fake one."   
"So you admit you're going to have to give up on the girl?"   
"No. This girl that you perchanced to reach before I got a chance to, is the strongest vessel we've seen in a long time, I'm not letting her go."_   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rika inhaled, taking in all the scents of her room, her wonderful, wonderful room. She felt a guilty twang in her heart for enjoying where she was, but why? She got up slowly, noticing that she was still in the clothes she had worn last night to Sakura's party and changed into shorts and a t-shirt.  
  
Going into the kitchen, her mother greeted her. "It's about time you woke up, sleeply head."  
  
"Good morning, mama," she smiled.  
  
"Yoshiyuki called. He just wanted to see how you were. What's this I hear about your fainting last night?" her father asked.  
  
"Oh, it wasn't anything. It was just dizziness and I had to sit down for a while," she lied to keep her parents from worrying too much.  
  
"You went to see a doctor and everything already?" her mother asked.  
  
Rika nodded. "There's nothing wrong with me that they can find. It's wierd. Don't worry about me though, mama, papa,"  
  
"Rika, it's our job to worry about you."  
  
The three of them laughed. "I'm going out for a run."  
  
The air outside was warm and breezy. It was perfect weather for an outdoors picnic. The different scents of the summer filled the air, fighting to be noticed. As she ran, Rika mulled over the empty feeling inside her. What had she been forgetting? There was something missing in her life right now, the problem was, she couldn't figure out what it was.  
  
She bumped into someone. "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. Oh, Sakura! Aren't you supposed to be gone?"  
  
"No, not for another few days, but..." her friend's voice trailed off.  
  
"But what?" Rika persisted.  
  
"There may be a change of plans."  
  
"A change of plans? Am I allowed to know more?"  
  
Sakura nodded. "Syaoran and I may just stay here in Japan for a few years."  
  
"I thought his family wanted him back home."  
  
Sakura shrugged. "So did I. He hasn't explained to me everything. How are you feeling? After what happened last night?"  
  
"Oh. That. I'm feeling pretty good actually."  
  
"Watch out for yourself, Rika."  
  
"I will, Sakura, bye."  
  
Watching Sakura's back, Rika was gripped by the sudden urge to yell out. Sakura and Syaoran weren't meant to stay in Japan. They were supposed to be in Hong Kong. That's the way things were supposed to be! She started to vocalize her thoughts but immediately quelled them. Who was she to say what was right and what was wrong, what should happen and what shouldn't? It was their decision where they wanted to stay and if they wanted to stay in Japan, Rika was fine with that.  
  
Yet Rika could not help but shiver as she surpressed that thought, and it nagged her all the way home.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The fake Sakura was again panicking, but only she knew that. She was getting antsy. Where ever Rika was, it wasn't where she needed to be at the moment, which was here, so that Sakura could take advantage of them all. Sobek had found out that Rika wasn't present. The stupid bauble must have told him. Trust the damn thing to relate everything that didn't matter. What mattered was that she was in. She was _in_. Now, she had the power to do what she wanted.  
  
What she wanted not only for Sobek, but for herself. Living with these people, she had a certain degree of freedom that Sobek had never given her, but she loved it. Every minute of it! It was better than staying with that secretary woman. She treated Sakura like a pet. It was unnerving and irritating.  
  
And none of them suspected what was going on....or so she thought...  
  
From the very beginning, there was something different about Sakura, and Yue noticed. When she came back, she had been more forceful to all of them. But besides that, there was something else Yue couldn't quite figure out....She had changed in the same subtle way that Rika had, except, Yue wasn't sure what to think about the change in his mistress. Sakura had also been reluctant to share anything about what had happened between the time of her disappearance and when she suddenly appeared again on this planet so far away from where they had first started out.  
  
Yue was relectant to share his thoughts with anyone. Syaoran had forbidden him from pressing his mistress for details about what had happened, but he still wondered.   
  
Meanwhile, Nakuru and Kero completely enjoyed Sakura's return. They didn't doubt Sakura the way Yue was. But he kept all his thoughts to himself; who was he to think that the others weren't doing the same thing?  
  
As for the search for Rika, Letith had sent troops out looking for her. Eriol had bumped into them many times. They couldn't leave this planet without Rika, and where could she have gone? Had she been kidnapped? Letith sent the troops everywhere. All the traditional theives dens had been cleared out and every shady character questioned, yet still no Rika.  
  
Of course, Letith knew where she was. He went and visited her one day. The bauble of light greeted him. "How is she?" he asked.  
  
The bubble hovered for a minute or two before it responded. "Well. Thanks for asking about me too."  
  
Since when had the thing gained a sense of humor? "How are you?" Letith returned, puzzled.  
  
"I'm peachy keen, thank you."  
  
"Ahhh...." He was unsure of what else to say.  
  
"Doesn't she look like she's sleeping?" the bauble asked after a few more minutes.  
  
"Umm...She does actually."  
  
"She'll wake up feeling refreshed."  
  
"Will she?"  
  
"Yes. And this will all seem like a long, long dream to her."  
  
"Which 'this' would you be refering to? Her stay here or what's happening in her head."  
  
"What's happening in her head of course."  
  
"Just checking."  
  
Letith shook his head. The bauble could be so odd sometimes. Those were the times he wondered why he even took advice from this light-thing. Hopefully, this would all be over soon, so he could stop sending his troops on a wild goose chase. It was so tempting just to forget it all and tell them to stop looking for her. And it was so tempting to tell her friends exactally what was going on.  
  
But if he did that, then the bauble would be irritated. That thing never got angry, just irritated. It was best just to let things be and to hope that everything would get over with quickly.  
  
Letith left the room.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Syaoran was so happy that Sakura was back. He seemed to be more in love with her than ever, having once realized what life would be like it he'd lost her, he didn't want to let her go again.  
  
Every once in a while though, the dream he had, where he had heard her voice....was it a dream? Syaoran had convinced himself that it hadn't been real, that it had just been hid overly cautious self warning him in a dream. But there was still that lingering feeling that it had been more than just a dream.  
  
Syaoran vowed to ask Sakura, the next time he remembered.  
  
The next time he remembered.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
a/n: press the button! press the button! 


	23. Part 2: The things a mind imagines

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own ccs, if you don't realize that by now, your wierd.**   
  
  
  
  


**The things a mind imagines**

  
  
  
  
_"She suspects doesn't she?"   
"Yes, she's still got a while to go though."   
"What do you mean?"   
"I mean she still has a ways to go before she realizes."   
"I don't even know why I'm having a 'civil' conversation with you."   
"Because you have to in order to find out what you need."   
"Remind me again why you're willingly telling me all of this."   
"Because I get the girl and you don't."   
"Oh, that's right. Now that you've won the arguement, you can afford to be cooperative."   
"You do realize that if it weren't for the fact that we're bound by rules, I'd kill you right now."   
"You aren't the only one who's thinking murderous thoughts."_   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
She cried herself to sleep that night.  
  
And she cried herself to sleep every night after that.  
  
Everything around her was perfectly ok, but at the same time, things were all wrong. Somehow, somewhere, something was put in the wrong place. But Rika couldn't firgure out what. What was going on that she thought was so off?  
  
Her friends had stopped eyeing her where ever she went because she stopped having dizzy spells. That was good. Now she could actually go places with out feeling like she was under the witness protection program.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran had stayed in Japan. Rika remembered thinking how interesting that was. Her gut feeling was that those two should have gone back to Hong Kong, but it _was_ nice having Sakura around still.  
  
She had never felt more in love in her life.  
  
In fact, except for the insane feeling deep in her heart that things were amiss, life was treating Rika Sasaki very well. And yes, never before had she been so in love with Yoshiyuki.  
  
She felt like she didn't want to leave him. He might disappear is she did. Rika voiced this fear to her beloved who simply shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it too much. You know what Rika? I think you're too stressed out right now. We should go somewhere so you can unwind."  
  
"We?" she asked, eyebrows raised. Yoshiyuki had never said that to her before, even in jest.  
  
"Yes. We."  
  
"We," she repeated again, just to be sure.  
  
"We."  
  
Rika started at the wall. "You still there?" Yoshiyuki smiled and put his hand on her arm.  
  
She moved to cover it with her other hand. "Yes. Just thinking."  
  
"About?"  
  
"Stuff..." She had been thinking about the feeling; she had been thinking about how interesting things were now - so wrong, yet so right.  
  
After a while, Yoshiyuki spoke up again. "So where do you think we should go?"  
  
Rika blinked and looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. "You were serious about going somewhere together?"  
  
"Did you think I wasn't?"  
  
"I guess so," she smiled. "Let's go somewhere where there's not a lot of people."  
  
"Not a lot of people? Like the mountains?"  
  
"How about the countryside?"  
  
"I got it, how about a spa?"  
  
"A spa?"  
  
"Yeah, so you can relax. Remember? The whole point of this trip is so that you can relax."  
  
She smiled dreamily. "A spa would be nice. And relaxing."  
  
"Exactally," he agreed, smiling.  
  
"Oh, one thing though. Parents."  
  
"Oh, that's right," he remembered. "Don't worry, I'll talk your parents into it."  
  
A week later, Rika found herself at a quiet spa in the middle of the mountains. She was actually there! Some how, Yoshiyuki had talked her parents into letting her go with him. Odd. Her parents had always been strict whenever she went places with just Yoshiyuki. But then again, who was she to question what had so neatly fallen into her lap?  
  
"Do you like it?" he whispered when they got there.  
  
"Like it? I love it!" she cried and kissed him heartily on the lips.  
  
As she did though, something in her woke up. She scrutinized her boyfriend.   
  
It was such a cliche scene. Like something out of a movie. Light mist, a remnant of the early morning fog, was only just beginning to disappear in the mountains. The birds were trilling their hearts out, and seemingly in tune with each other. The sun hit everything at just the right angle to give everything a striking and dramatic look. An arm hugged her around her shoulders. "Isn't it perfect?" Yoshiyuki asked.  
  
Yes, yes, she answered in her head. It was perfect. It was a little _too_ perfect.  
  
She shook the thoughts out of her head. "Let's go in!"  
  
"So tell me really," she demanded playfully while they unpacked in their room. "How did you get my parents to let me come?"  
  
"I'm a lucky guy," he started and then kissed her.  
  
Rika broke the kiss. "I'm sure you are, but that still doesn't answer my question."  
  
"Don't you want to know why I'm lucky?"  
  
She pretended to think about it. "Ok. Tell me why you're so lucky."  
  
"Because I have you. And," he paused to kiss her nose. "I'm continuously amazed at how you're willing to spend your life with me."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I'm a good fifteen years older than you. I'll be an old man before you're even out of your thrities."  
  
"I don't care."  
  
"And that makes me lucky," he concluded.  
  
Rika forgot what had even started the conversation and left the room. The rest of the day passed surreally for her. Everything she did was a blur. Everything happened so fast. It was like she was like her mind wanted to get to something. Fast.  
  
As the sun was setting that day, everything seemed to slow down. Dinner with Yoshiyuki lasted a life time and a half. But in a good way. She could have sat there forever with her beloved.  
  
Then...  
  
Then the almost unthinkable happened.  
  
"Will you marry me Rika?"  
  
And suddenly, her surroundings assaulted her senses. Everything overwhelmed her so much. The people sitting around them, the music coming from the piano in the corner, noise of waiters serving, the smells of the foods, all that was too much for her to handle, and then Yoshiyuki Tereda in front of her. His shining eyes, the diamond ring he was holding out to her, he was on his knee, all that was too much for her to handle.  
  
Rika gripped the corners of the table. He breath came in short gasps as she tried to steady herself. Other guests were starring. She didn't care. And all the thoughts she had been trying to sort out, about how off everything seemed to be, about how in love she was with Yoshiyuki, about how she wanted her life to be normal again, flew out of her head. Her energy forcused on piecing together the five words that had fallen out of his mouth. Will you marry me Rika?  
  
She stood up, still keeping her grip on the table. She was vaugely aware that Yoshiyuki was calling out her name, and that some waiters were walking over to see what was wrong. Nothing mattered anymore. Rika ran out of the building and into the frosty night.  
  
The night air in the mountains was much cooler than in the city. It cleared her mind of the chaos inside the resteurant.  
  
What had just happened? Rika couldn't remember a thing. Something sad had just happened. It was curious though, that she couldn't remember. She looked up at the sky, at the thousand points of light that dotted the black canvas called night. Yoshiyuki touched her arm; a light shone in the distance. He called her name; the light was calling her.  
  
Entranced by the light, Rika moved towards it. Something was restraining her, pulling her by the arm. She brushed it away. The light was calling her.  
  
And the faster the walked towards the light, the bigger and brighter the light got. Rika felt a nostalgic tugg at her heart. She wanted to stay in the illusion. It was an illusion?  
  
No, she wanted to leave the illusion. She needed to leave behind her dreams. The light was calling her.  
  
Rika didn't recall ever reaching the light, all she could remember was the light overwhelming her.  
  
Then the light was gone. The light was gone. All that remained was a small condensed ball of the intense light. Hovering. It was hovering above her face.  
  
But it wasn't the light she was interested in anymore. It was the face behind the light. Letith.  
  
"So, you're finally awake..."  
  
Rika blinked. Who was this? Her memory flooded back, and she lunged. "You! Damn it! You did this too me!"  
  
The light created a wall between them. An ethereal voice said, "don't take out your anger on him. If you're going to be anygry at anyone, be angry at me."  
  
"Wha-?" she voiced breathlessly. This ball of light. It could talk!  
  
"I'm sorry I had to trap you in your own mind, but it was necessary. It was my way of testing to see if you were strong enough."  
  
"Strong enough?" she questioned as Letith tried to help her stand. She shook him off and got to her feet by herself.  
  
"Yes. If you were strong enough to be the Child of Light."  
  
"Well, did I pass?" she asked wryly.  
  
"You got out of the illusion didn't you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You surpassed expectations."  
  
"How long have I been here?"  
  
"Three weeks. About," Letith supplied.  
  
"Which brings me why Letith is here," the light said. "There isn't a moment to loose. Your friends. They're in danger!"  
  
"What?!" Rika moved to the door. The door opened before she touched it. Rika paused, startled, and then started out before she stopped again. "Wait. I don't know the way out."  
  
"There's an easier way," the light said. Before Letith or Rika could ask, the two found themselves outside Letith's large mansion.   
  
  
  
  



	24. Part 2: Flat dispair indeed

  
**DISCLAIMER: I don't own ccs, if you don't realize that by now, your wierd.**   
  
  
  
  


**"Flat dispair" indeed**

  
  
  
  
Rika walked into the house. An unfamiliar aura hung about the rooms that her companions were staying in. Rika marched up the stairs with guidance from Letith and tailed by the bubble of light. She paused in front of the closed doors, slightly apprehensive. Letith reached his hand for the door knob, but Rika caught his wrist. "I want to open the door," she whispered.  
  
When the doors were thrown open, everyone gasped.   
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It took a moment for everyone in the room to realize that Rika had returned. Rika however, knew as soon as she laid eyes on her companions what was wrong. She waited. She waited for them to speak first. The noise broke out all of a sudden, and they all advanced towards her. "Stop," she said, holding up a hand. "You."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
For many days now, Yue had been especially watchful of Sakura. He called her Sakura now, not because he was more comfortable with her, but becaue there was something about her that didn't belong with his mistress.  
  
She never spoke of the two cards she had left with Syaoran. In fact, she never spoke of the Sakura cards at all. The only time she ever hinted that she even thought about magic was when they spoke of Rika. During those conversations, she payed attention. Eriol, too, had noticed that something was different about Sakura, but unlike Yue, he was reluctant to think too hard about it. He actually had toyed with the idea of asking Sakura what had happened when she was with Sobek, but he never did. There was always something holding him back.  
  
Yue wanted to ask Syaoran if there was something wrong with Sakura, but he was so blinded by his love for her that he wouldn't have given the moon guardian a good answer. Surprisingly enough, it was Keroberos who finally spoke up. The gluttonous, lazy Keroberos, the astute, bold Keroberos, had pulled Yue aside one day. "Watch Sakura, Yue, something is off."  
  
Yue raised both his eye brows. "You noticed it too?"  
  
"For a while now." Kero gave Yue a funny look. "Why didn't you say something before?"  
  
"Syaoran would protect her."  
  
"No stupid. To me. Or to Eriol."  
  
Yue glanced at Eriol across the room. Eriol gave a slight nod when Yue caught his eye. "He know about it too?" Yue asked.  
  
Kero nodded. "There's deffinately something different about Sakura, but we're not quite sure what to do..."  
  
That had been the end of that conversation as Sakura and Syaoran walked into the room.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Life was a different story for Sakura, who was constantly on pins and needles because Rika had disappeared. One day while she was taking a bath, the Bauble appeared to her...in the shape of Sobek's head. She cursed under her breath and covered herself. "Damn it, Sobek," she hissed. "Can't you find some other way of talking to me?"  
  
"No," the Bauble had mouthed. "You've that stupid Syaoran hanging off you arm day and night. When am I supposed to talk to you?"  
  
She shrugged. "Don't surprise me like that. Ever. Pervert," she added softly.  
  
"I heard that."  
  
"Then you must have also heard that Rika is still missing."  
  
"You're staying until she's found."  
  
"You're sick, Sobek, sick." Sakura settled back into the tub of water. He raised an eye brow. Sobek knew what she was going to say. Who knew that the innocent, pure Sakura his illusion was modeled after would be so bad?  
  
Not wanting to hear what she had to say, he ordered the Bauble to leave.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"You," Rika said, pointing at Sakura. "You're not Sakura."  
  
Sakura pretended to be shocked. "What the hell do you mean I'm not Sakura? Who else do you think I am?"  
  
Rika shrugged. "I don't care who you are, except that you aren't Sakura, so get out."  
  
"Wait," Syaoran intervened. "Who are you?" he asked, desperate to find out who it was Rika claimed to be decieving him.  
  
Sakura looked down, but didn't turn around to face Syaoran. She let out a maniacle giggle. "I am simply who I am. Do you think you can understand me? Your simple human mind can't possibly fathom the depth of my master's influence in the universe." She looked at Rika, sneering, "You can't even understand your own." Sakura ran out of the room, not looking back, but not looking foward either.  
  
Against her will, Rika let out a shudder, then a sigh. She missed the illusion she had been in, but now was not the time for imaginations. She would not allow time for imagination again. They had already wasted three weeks here. Three unacceptable weeks. They had to make up for thier idleness. She sealed her heart even further against the nostalgic tugs that now tried to barrage her senses.   
  
Letith approached Rika. "The key." Rika fingered the medalion handed to her and handed it off to Eriol. She turned and looked out the window, her hair shielding her face from her friends. "Let's go."  
  
"The things we've suffered to get this little...thing," Eriol mused, and flipped it in the air. Kero snatched it before Eriol could catch it again.   
  
"Well, one more to go...right?"  
  
Syaoran's eyes hardened a little. The relization that he had been fooled was almost too much for him. "We're going now." His condescending tone covered the pain in his heart. He had been tricked! Fooled! Never again, would that happen. Never again.  
  
Hope! Syaoran scoffed. Hope didn't exist. It never had, it never would. Now all that was left was dispair...  
  
  
  


**End of Part 2**   
  
  
  
  
  
...and yet....  
  
  
  
  
"Our final hope   
Is flat dispair......."   
  
  
  
  



End file.
